The Lounge by AT&T features an Ada’s Discovery Cafe in Seattle’s Capitol Hill Neighborhood. (GeekWire Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

AT&T is donating a total of $1.1 million to Seattle-area nonprofits focused on tackling homelessness, food insecurity, and equity.

The telecom giant is launching Believe Seattle at a kickoff event Wednesday at the AT&T Lounge. Recipients of the grants include United Way of King County, Hopelink’s End Summer Hunger Program, and others.

AT&T says the $1.1 million is just the first round of grants in its ongoing Believe Seattle campaign.

The donation is the latest in a series of announcements that show the tech industry taking a more active role in Seattle housing issues.

Last week, advocacy group Tech 4 Housing and nonprofit Bellwether Housing launched a new fund that allows everyday people to invest in affordable housing. Amazon is matching employee investments in the fund.

That fund came on the heels of Plymouth Housing, another local nonprofit, announcing it raised $48.8 million to build five new affordable housing buildings over the next four years. Microsoft and Amazon each donated $5 million to the effort, as did former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie.

For Microsoft’s part, it was the first grant award in a broader $500 million affordable housing and homelessness fund the company announced earlier this year.

AT&T appears to be following the trend set by its Seattle peers. In a statement, the company said, “We look forward to working with internal and external stakeholders, particularly Microsoft on their affordable housing initiative, to explore other opportunities for collaboration.”

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