$600 per month is changing lives in Durham
By Sarah Krueger, WRAL Durham reporter
Posted 6:17 p.m. Oct 6 — Updated 7:49 p.m. Oct 6
DURHAM, N.C. — Tydricka Lewis is appreciative of the $600 she’s given each month as part of Durham’s guaranteed basic income program.
“It has impacted my life tremendously, making it more efficient for me to be a mother [in] a single parent home,” Lewis said. “I’m able to provide reliable decent transportation for my children.”
Lewis, a mother to three children, acknowledged the money is even more necessary with recent inflation.
EXCEL Participant - Tydricka Lewis
On Thursday, nonprofit StepUp Durham provided data on how its guaranteed basic income program doing since launching in March.
StepUp Durham provides $600 each month, with no strings attached, to 109 people who were formerly incarcerated.
Hill said about 40% of people who come out of incarceration return within three years.
“None of the 109 have been reincarcerated,” said StepUp Durham Executive Director Syretta Hill.
“The fact that people are not returning to incarceration has a lot to do, I think, with having more money in their pockets to be able to take care of the things they need to take care of,” Hill said. Durham is one of only 50 U.S. cities with a guaranteed basic income program. Hill hopes the Durham program and others like it across the country will make the case for a federal policy.
Hills said the participants are spending money on taking care of themselves, families, food, transportation and household needs. “The goal is to see what it means for individuals, who have historically lived on the margins, to get supplemental income,” Hill said.Lewis said she works 60 hours per week at two different jobs.
“If people have the things that they need on an everyday basis, the world would be at much peace,” Lewis said. Hill said private donations have funded the StepUp Durham program.
