ARISE, Alexandria's guaranteed income pilot program, is having a positive affect on local families, according to a new report.
Selected from more than 4,100 applications, 170 residents joined Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity (ARISE), Alexandria’s guaranteed income initiative in late 2023.
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.
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.
Applications were open to 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 three-quarters of participants are Black or Hispanic, and 52% speak a language at home other than English (26% Spanish, 11% Amharic and 5% or less Dari, Arabic or something else).
The average household size is 2.8 people, with a median household income of $21,400 and an average age of 43. Two-thirds of the recipients are women, according to the report.
Positive Results, but More Funds Needed
One year of the program has passed, and an interim report shows some positive results. A similar program has launched in Fairfax County, called the Fairfax County Economic Mobility Pilot.
"The initial findings after one year suggest that ARISE participants are experiencing calmer home lives, less stress, and more hope for the future. They are doing better on some financial measures than the control group even though some participants reduced their paid work hours to pursue other commitments. These results suggest progress toward the program’s goal of improving participants’ overall well-being," according to the report.
"Interviewees also described how their stress levels are improving. Most emphasized that the ARISE payments reduce their financial stress, which in turn improve both their mental wellbeing and their stress-based ailments," including one interviewee who said her stress-induced neck pain was significantly less.
The report also noted, "Some interviewees told us they have reduced their paid work hours slightly, finding time to be more present with their children, to focus on finishing school, or take up other activities. For example, Omar is able to spend the time and resources necessary to advance his career by studying and paying for $3,000 licensing exams before graduating, when most people wait until after, allowing him to enter the job market immediately after graduation and begin supporting his family."
However, some families continued to struggle, even with the $500-per-month boost. "On the whole, participants were facing relatively extreme economic difficulties at the time of application. Despite the income ceiling for eligibility being $64,050 (for a family of 3), the median household income among participants was less than $21,600, with 61% of participants receiving public assistance," according to the report. "Despite this assistance, more than 70% reported experiencing food insecurity in the past month. Few had any meaningful savings, and more than half had credit card or other revolving debt."
The primary reason for this is that housing in Alexandria is very expensive and those costs continue to rise. In some cases, $500 per month was not enough to close the gap.
When asked what would help, interviewees said the program should be for $1,000 per month. "The moderate positive impacts of ARISE so far could be blunted by how far $500 a month goes toward the cost of living in Alexandria, Virginia. Asked what changes they would make to the ARISE program, a few interviewees advocated for monthly payments of $1,000 or more to offset the high cost of housing," according to a report.
