Jeff Bezos Donates $120 Million to Fight Homelessness, Then Invests $500 Million to Make It Worse

This article from Common Dreams highlights the insanity and frustration many of us in the housing advocacy world share. Jeff Bezos made a sizeable contribution to fighting homelessness - and days later a Bezos-owned company spent nearly 5 times that amount in an investment company that is grabbing up properties across the country, making the affordability problem worse. These corporate investment funds are killing the American housing market (see Ko Lyn Cheang and Claire Rafford’s series, How Wall Street cashed in on the American Dream).

It's frustrating to think people like Bezos could make a serious dent, if not end, the affordable housing crisis. And yet, they act to make more money and make things worse. I’ll give Bezos some grace. It’s not common to equate homelessness and the housing market (everyone should read Homelessness Is A Housing Problem). Then again, his level of wealth should include the assumption of due diligence.