Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos create $2 Billion fund to fight homelessness

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos create $2 billion fund to fight homelessness

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CNN11:47 AM, Sep 13, 2018

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Jeff Bezos has revealed how he plans to donate part of his fortune.

The Amazon CEO and his wife, MacKenzie, will commit $2 billion to fund existing nonprofits that help homeless families and to create a network of preschools in low-income communities. They call their project the "Bezos Day One Fund."

Bezos tweeted a statement Thursday that the fund will issue annual leadership awards to organizations "doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families." There will also be full scholarships for Montessori-inspired preschools in "underserved" communities, he said.

Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post and space exploration company Blue Origin, became the world's wealthiest person this year, with an estimated net worth of $164 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Helping the homeless has also been a focus for Amazon.

Earlier this year, the company partnered with the Seattle nonprofit Mary's Place to build a permanent homeless shelter in its headquarters. It previously helped the nonprofit temporarily house 200 homeless people. Since March 2016, Amazon customers have also been able to order items from the Mary's Place's wishlist on the site, such as diapers and socks.

Earlier this month, Bezos and his wife donated $10 million to With Honor, a nonpartisan organization and super PAC looking to boost the number of veterans in politics. The organization said the couple donated one third of its $30 million funding goal of helping to elect a minimum of 20 American military veterans in November.

In the past, Bezos has made political contributions, but not of this magnitude. In 2012, he donated $2.5 million to uphold Washington state's same-sex marriage law.

He has also been criticized for not contributing his fortune to philanthropy like other billionaires have, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a massive philanthropic initiative tackling issues such as infectious diseases and improving education.

In 2016, Bezos was asked if he planned to pursue philanthropy like Gates has. Bezos responded: "Yeah, if there's anything left after I finish building Blue Origin."
But then he changed his tune.

In a tweet last June, Bezos asked the public for ideas about where he should give his money. He said he was mulling a philanthropic strategy that is "the opposite of how I mostly spend my time."

https://www.abc15.com/news/national/...t-homelessness

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In a tweet last June, Bezos asked the public for ideas about where he should give his money. He said he was mulling a philanthropic strategy that is "the opposite of how I mostly spend my time."

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I'd raise that starting wage of $9 an hour so your warehouse employees can afford a roof over their heads.

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Originally Posted by Judy

I'd raise that starting wage of $9 an hour so your warehouse employees can afford a roof over their heads.

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What does Amazon pay their employees?

The average salary for software engineers at Amazon is north of $100,000, according to data from PayScale, a salary comparison service. By comparison, a full-time warehouse associate at one of Amazon's fulfillment centers in New Jersey could make as much as $13.85 per hour, according to a current job posting.Apr 19, 2018

The typical Amazon employee makes less than you think - CNN Money
https://money.cnn.com/2018/04/19/technology/amazon-employee-salary/index.html

How much does Amazon warehouse jobs pay?


Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker Hourly Pay. The typical Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker salary is $12. Amazon Warehouse Worker salaries at Amazon can range from $9 - $17.

Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker Salaries | Glassdoor

https://www.glassdoor.com/...Pay/Amazon-Amazon-Warehouse-Worker-Hourly-Pay-E6...




Search for: How much does Amazon warehouse jobs pay?

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Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

How much does Amazon warehouse jobs pay?


Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker Hourly Pay. The typical Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker salary is $12. Amazon Warehouse Worker salaries at Amazon can range from $9 - $17.

Amazon Amazon Warehouse Worker Salaries | Glassdoor

https://www.glassdoor.com/...Pay/Amazon-Amazon-Warehouse-Worker-Hourly-Pay-E6...



Search for: How much does Amazon warehouse jobs pay?

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Thanks for the link.

Working Homeless Population Grows in Cities Across the U.S.

February 7, 2018 – 5:00 AM
By Becky Hughes

With housing prices continuing to climb in many larger cities across the U.S., having a full-time job no longer guarantees that workers can afford to live in the city where they’re employed.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters need to earn a wage of at least $21.21 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom rental home in the U.S. With a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and an average hourly wage of $16.38 for renters nationwide, housing is simply unaffordable for many lower-income workers.

The working homeless population in tech hubs like Seattle and San Francisco has made headlines recently, and Axios says the problem is spreading even further across the states to cities including Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C.

These thousands of homeless workers return to their cars, RVs, homeless shelters, side streets or parking lots—often with their entire family—when their workday is done. Often called an invisible problem due to the lack of data on this growing population, working homelessness presents a host of problems, from basic questions like where to shower, sleep and eat safely to issues like not having a permanent address.

Axios consulted agencies, shelters and experts to get a better idea of how prevalent working homelessness actually is. Josh Leopold, a researcher at the Urban Institute, estimated that about 25 percent of the homeless population is employed, while Megan Hustings, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told Axios that between 40 and 60 percent of the homeless population floats in and out of full-time and part-time work.

In Washington, D.C., a 2017 report by the Washington Council of Governments says that 22 percent of homeless single adults and 25 percent of adults in homeless families are employed. Arianna Fishman of New York’s Department of Homeless Services told Axios that around 70 percent of the city’s 60,000 people living in homeless shelters are families—and 34 percent of those families include a working adult. Working Homeless Population Grows in Cities Across the U.S.

With housing prices continuing to climb in many larger cities across the U.S., having a full-time job no longer guarantees that workers can afford to live in the city where they’re employed.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, renters need to earn a wage of at least $21.21 per hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom rental home in the U.S. With a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and an average hourly wage of $16.38 for renters nationwide, housing is simply unaffordable for many lower-income workers.

The working homeless population in tech hubs like Seattle and San Francisco has made headlines recently, and Axios says the problem is spreading even further across the states to cities including Dallas, New York and Washington, D.C.

These thousands of homeless workers return to their cars, RVs, homeless shelters, side streets or parking lots—often with their entire family—when their workday is done. Often called an invisible problem due to the lack of data on this growing population, working homelessness presents a host of problems, from basic questions like where to shower, sleep and eat safely to issues like not having a permanent address.

Axios consulted agencies, shelters and experts to get a better idea of how prevalent working homelessness actually is. Josh Leopold, a researcher at the Urban Institute, estimated that about 25 percent of the homeless population is employed, while Megan Hustings, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, told Axios that between 40 and 60 percent of the homeless population floats in and out of full-time and part-time work.

In Washington, D.C., a 2017 report by the Washington Council of Governments says that 22 percent of homeless single adults and 25 percent of adults in homeless families are employed. Arianna Fishman of New York’s Department of Homeless Services told Axios that around 70 percent of the city’s 60,000 people living in homeless shelters are families—and 34 percent of those families include a working adult.

https://parade.com/643064/beckyhughe...cross-the-u-s/

How much does Amazon pay an hour?


The average U.S. warehouse worker, at Amazon or anywhere else, earns a third more than a retail worker. The median hourly wage of a warehouse worker is $13.50, or about 30% more than the average U.S. retail worker's pay of $10.09, according to the Department of Labor.Jul 30, 2013

How Amazon's new jobs really stack up - CNN Money

https://money.cnn.com/2013/07/30/news/companies/amazon-warehouse.../index.html

California/Minimum wage


11.00 USD per hour
Jan 1, 2018
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San Francisco
15.00 USD

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Texas
7.25 USD


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Florida
8.25 USD

NORTH CAROLINA
2018 Hourly Minimum Wage
$7.25 / hour

San Diego/Minimum wage
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11.50 USD per hour
Jan 1, 2017