In early 2023, the lives of people in 170 Alexandria households took a significant turn for the better.
Selected from more than 4,100 applications, 170 residents were selected for the Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity (ARISE), Alexandria’s guaranteed income initiative. Guaranteed income is money provided to residents with no strings attached, and the programs are designed to provide families the opportunity to improve their quality of life, explained Heather Peeler, president and CEO of ACT for Alexandria, the city’s community foundation.
The program is providing the chosen households with $500 per month for two years. Funding for the program — $3 million — came from federally-provided American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. ACT for Alexandria and the City of Alexandria’s Center for Economic Support are leading the program.
Alexandria is joining several other cities across the United States in testing out guaranteed income programs for res- idents. In Los Angeles, for example, a program called BIG:LEAP is giving 3,200 residents $1,000 per month for one year. In Chicago, the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot program is giving 5,000 people $500 per month for one year. A Rochester, New York program gave 351 residents $500 per month for 12 months. In Arlington, Virginia, Arlington’s Guarantee provides $500 to 200 low-in- come working families in Arlington every month for 18 months.
A program in Fairfax County is launching this fall (read more here).
While those pilot programs are recent, the concept of guaranteed basic income is not at all new. Early advocates for guaranteed income included Thomas Paine and Thomas Moore, according to the group Mayors for Guaranteed Income. In the 1960s, economist Milton Friedman, President Richard Nixon and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. supported the concept. Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson is now a member of Mayors for Guaranteed Income, an organization that Mayor Michael D. Tubbs of Stockton, California, founded in June 2020 to advocate for more guaranteed income programs. The mayors of College Park and Takoma Park, Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia, are also members.
“Too many families are on the financial edge where an unexpected setback like reduced hours at work or a car repair can have a devastating impact,” Wilson wrote in his Mayors for Guaranteed Income profile. “Guaranteed income is a proven tool to help families secure stronger financial footing and take steps to move up the economic ladder.”
Who’s Benefiting in Alexandria
Applications opened for just 10 days in 2022 to City of Alexandria residents 18 years or older who had a household income at or below 50% of Alexandria’s area median income. There were no citizenship or work requirements to be eligible. More than 4,100 people applied for the program.
The 2023 median income in Alexandria is $152,100 for a family of four, and $106,500 for a single person household, according to Housing Alexandria.
The City of Alexandria has engaged Abt Associates to evaluate the effects of the program. Questions they expect to answer include how ARISE affected short-term and long-term financial stability among participants, plus employment, housing stability and child outcomes (if there are children in the house).
Studies have shown that financial stress can affect a person’s mental health and physical health, and Abt Associates will be looking at those factors, as well. In Alexandria, ARISE participants come from all Alexandria city ZIP codes, with a higher concentration in ZIP codes with higher levels of poverty.
How It Makes a Difference
Alexandria is, overall, a wealthy city. In May of this year, SmartAsset ranked Alexandria sixth in Virginia in per capita wealth. But the cost of living here is high and many families have trouble making ends meet. The poverty level in Alexandria is 8.6%. That’s about 10% higher than the region’s overall rate, and 14% of Alexandria’s children live below the poverty line, Peeler noted.
For families making 50% or less of the area median income, a boost of $6,000 per year (the income is a tax-free gift) can make a huge difference in their day-to-day lives. Participants receive their monthly $500 payments through a debit card. They can use no-fee ATMs or download an app and use Google Pay on their phones. Similar to the outcomes of other guaranteed income pilot programs nationwide, ARISE participants are spending their $500 each month mostly on basic necessities. The primary spending category is groceries.
A single father who is participating in the ARISE program has said the programs allows him “time to think for tomorrow,” he told city officials. “The repeating cycle of going to work and sleep and go back to work prevented me from thinking [about] long-term goals.” He used to work two jobs, which was negatively affecting his relationship with his kids. “Now, I have the freedom to quit my second job. ARISE gave me the freedom to have time to think for tomorrow. My kids know me better now since I get to spend time with them,” he said.
A senior citizen participating in the program said, “This program is God sent. With living expenses rising, in addition with the mounting medical bills from my cancer lifesaving treatment, life has been stressful. Without this assistance I'd fall off the financial cliff, but God, knowing that I can count on this income lessens my stress and anxiety considerably.”
ARISE participants have access to a coach, who can help them navigate city and community resources like financial counseling in the long term. “Research from projects across the country has shown that guaranteed income is an effective way to combat several factors stifling economic mobility — the coronavirus pandemic and its immediate and long-term economic fallout — and longstanding systemic racism,” according to the Alexandria Center for Economic Support. “The ARISE guaranteed income pilot project speaks to our shared values as a community — to live a dignified, productive, safe, and creative life and to have the opportunity to pursue dreams and goals.”
ACT for Alexandria is hoping that ARISE and similar programs, including Arlington’s Guarantee, will push state lawmakers to expand the Virginia CTC and EITC. “These programs offer low-income people financial breathing room and give them a chance to break free from poverty and move up the economic ladder,” Peeler said.
