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Jennette Fisher and her 11-year-old daughter Sophia moved into a new apartment in January. Fisher is still setting up the furniture, but her Chicago suburb is starting to feel like home.
"It was every single thing that I prayed for," she told Business Insider.
Fisher, 46, was a participant in the City of Chicago's Resilient Communities Pilot. The guaranteed basic-income program provided 5,000 families with $500 a month no-strings-attached for a full year, beginning in summer 2022. Selected participants experienced economic hardship from the pandemic and had household incomes at or below 250% of the federal poverty line. That means participants like Fisher would've had to make less than $45,775 to qualify as a family of two.
For Fisher and her daughter, the cash was "a Godsend," and the help they needed to secure housing. Although she's no longer receiving payments, Fisher said the support allowed her to move out of temporary domestic violence shelters and sign a lease.
"It took such a weight off," Fisher said. "If I wouldn't have had that money, I don't know what would have happened."
Participants across the country have told BI they spent basic income money to pay rent, afford groceries, pay off debt, and support their children.
In April, Chicago announced that it will restart it's basic income program. The city has allocated $32 million to project, but has not yet specified when the next cash payments will begin, or how many participants are set to benefit. The renewed Chicago program will join a wave of over 100 basic-income pilots that have been launched since 2019.
Funding for the program will primarily come from The 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, a federal pandemic recovery budget that has been used to finance GBI pilots across the US. The federal government requires that all APRA funds must be spent by December 2026.
Policy advocates and economic security experts have told BI that basic income's widespread success gives insight into future poverty solutions. Basic income differs from traditional social services like SNAP and rental assistance because it allows participants, like Fisher, to choose how to spend their money.
"The lessons from those pilots are infusing the whole ecosystem of support," Teri Olle, director for Economic Security California, said. "People are really seeing the power of those pilots, and the power of giving people money and trusting them."
When Fisher began receiving basic income, she felt immediate relief. She said she "never gave up" trying to build a better and safer life for herself and her daughter.
She used some of her first payment to take Sophia to dinner and Chuck E. Cheese. They hadn't been since one of Sophia's childhood birthday parties, and it meant a lot to Fisher that they could celebrate together.
Because Fisher was living between various Chicago domestic violence shelters before she signed for her apartment, she said it has been difficult to hold a job. She's also not sure she can work again due to mental health reasons and is currently in the application process for disability benefits.
With basic income payments, Fisher was able to afford daily expenses and buy the clothes and shoes she and her daughter needed. The money also put her in a position to start renting her new apartment. Having her own place with Sophia is "everything she ever wanted."
Fisher is still doing her best to get by. She has to pay rent and only receives a few hundred dollars a month total from SNAP for food. She has health insurance through Medicaid, and the benefits help pay for an addiction recovery program she's enrolled in.
Right now, she estimates she lives on less than $700 a month, an amount that comes through Sophia's father's Social Security check. However, Fisher said she doesn't receive any form of child support.
She is still stressed about expenses but said Chicago's GBI program offered her "a brand new start."
Going forward, Fisher is excited to keep getting settled in their new home. Sophia starts sixth-grade next fall, and the pair are hoping to see Fisher's family, whom they haven't been able to visit in years.
"Stability is the number one thing I want," Fisher said.
"Stability, peace, happiness, and no drama."
Have you benefited from a guaranteed basic-income program? Are you open to sharing your story? If so, reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.
