The City of St. Louis has launched a program to aid low-income families by providing $500 per month for 18 months. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mayor Tishaura Jones said that the cash will be distributed to hundreds of municipal residents.
She believes it will help to restore neighborhoods and prevent the fundamental causes of criminal behavior. “St. Louis’ guaranteed basic income will give hundreds of St. Louis families the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty, giving them a strong foundation to grow and to thrive,” she said in a statement.
The city’s $5 million in federal pandemic money will be used to fund the program, which was approved by the Board of Aldermen last year. Jones asked everyone who was interested to visit the website. Because the city will begin disbursing payments via debit cards in December, applications will be accepted from October 23 to November 1.
While 440 families were originally planned to participate in the initiative, St. Louis native Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, Square, and the philanthropist behind #startsmall, is providing $1 million to the program to add 100 more participants, bringing the total to 540. The Deaconess Foundation provides operational support for this.
St. Louis City stated that applicants must be St. Louis City residents with a child or dependant under the age of 18 enrolled in a public school (St. Louis Public Schools or a public charter school) in order to be eligible.
In addition, the applicant must have a combined household income of less than 170% of the federal poverty threshold or have had financial difficulties as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, such as job loss, increased childcare costs, and so on.
“St. Louis is joining more than 30 municipalities across the country in trying this new, exciting way to financially empower families and lift them out of poverty,” Jones said.
Mayor Jones passed BB116, sponsored by Ald. Shameem Clark-Hubbard (10), in December to create Missouri’s first Guaranteed Basic Income program.
“President Joe Biden’s expanded child tax demonstrates how direct payments support families and help them afford the necessities, and our 2021 Direct Cash Assistance assisted thousands of St. Louisans in putting food on the table and paying bills.” “With STL Guaranteed Basic Income, we are taking the next step and are thrilled to have the support of St. Louis native Jack Dorsey to help even more families make ends meet,” she said.