Durham Guaranteed Income $500 per month
DURHAM, N.C. — More than 100 Durham residents will soon start receiving $500 a month for a year as part of an experiment to measure the impact of a guaranteed income on people's lives.
Applications for the pilot project open Jan. 5, although project administrator StepUp Durham has already received interest from about 300 people.
"We’re just excited to be part of this national conversation," said Syretta Hill, StepUp's executive director. "I think it’s going to be, for many, life-changing."
To apply, people must be at least 18 years old, live in Durham, have been incarcerated in the last five years and earn no more than 60 percent of the area's median income.
The Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania will randomly pick 115 of the applicants, and the $500 checks will start going out in March.
"We need a universal basic income floor," Hill said. "Not everyone has the same level of income, but we see across the country rent is rising, [as are] transportation and gas prices. We need people to be able to take care for themselves and their families."
The bulk of the $700,000 cost of the program was provided by Jack Dorsey, the founder and former chief executive of Twitter. A year ago, he gave $15 million to be divided among Durham and 29 other cities nationwide to try guaranteed income programs.
Durham committed another $110,000, and various donors, including Duke University, have also chipped in. On Thursday, the City Council accepted an $18,000 donation from the Bob Barker Company Foundation.
Fuquay-Varina-based Bob Barker Co. provides clothing, bedding and hygiene products to prisons and jails.
Hill said she wants everyone who's eligible for the project to apply.
"We want everyone to thrive. I truly believe that we all thrive when everyone thrives," she said.
