Applications to open in October for Ann Arbor's pilot guaranteed income program
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The City of Ann Arbor will be accepting applications for its guaranteed income pilot program Oct. 2-13.
Under the program, eligible individuals will receive monthly payments of $528 for two years.
The funds will go to 100 local entrepreneurs with low or very low income, including established business owners, those trying to start a business, and gig workers.
The city is partnering with the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions to run the program.
Lead researcher for the study, Kristin Seefeldt, said U-M and the city will be spreading the word about the program over the next month.
"We're partnering with different nonprofits in Ann Arbor to make sure folks they work with know about this, so we're going to be pounding the pavement for the next month and getting the word out," said Seefeldt.
Eligible individuals should live in Ann Arbor and have an income at or below 225% of the federal poverty line.
In June, Ann Arbor City Council approved the use of $1.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds for the pilot program.
"We're also looking at a set of outcomes around hardship, and we were hoping to see that getting that extra money reduces things like housing insecurity, food insecurity, maybe it improves people's physical and mental health, so we'll be tracking those things over time as well," said Seefeldt.
The program's organizers will select names at random in a lottery once the application period has ended.
"We'll alert people as soon as we know they're eligible and were selected. We'll do a little bit of onboarding, getting people set up with the app that will help them get their payments and make sure people understand, what, if any, impact the payment will have on the public benefits they're receiving," said Seefeldt.
To learn more about the program, you can visit www.giga2.org.