Once applicants meet the eligibility requirements (1. Residence in Yellow Springs or Miami Township, 2. Age of 18 or older and 3. Annual earnings below a threshold set by federal guidelines), they will enter a random lottery weighted by equity factors. The lottery selection process will be overseen by independent researchers from the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Once selected, participants will attend a single onboarding session to set up their payment system. After that, all participation in research and storytelling will be purely voluntary.

YSEQUITY is joining a national network of unconditional payment programs for families most in need. Yellow Springs is a member of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income coalition, as well as the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice, in collaboration with the Stanford University Basic Income Lab. In recent years, the Economic Security Project has supported 100 GI pilot projects; more than 80 have already concluded or begun giving out money and will eventually provide about 38,000 participants with over $500 million in aid.

The results are overwhelmingly positive. The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, known as the longest running GI program in the US, provides Black mothers with $1,000 a month for a year. Results show Participants didn’t quit their jobs in large numbers; even though many lost their jobs because of COVID, about the same number of women were employed at the beginning of the program as at the end. Participants “reported being more motivated to pursue their own goals, sustain that motivation, and recognize their own agency,” according to a report on the program.
The Stockton GI pilot, which sends $500 a month to 125 people a year, showed that regular cash assistance increases employment and that payments remove “material barriers” to finding full-time work. Instead of staying in dead-end, unreliable jobs, people could go back to school or participate in internships or trainings that opened the door to higher-paying jobs.

According to 2019 Census data, the current population of Yellow Springs is 3,872, with 12.8% persons below the poverty line, which equates to approximately 495 individuals, including 12% of children and 8% of seniors. According to income level data per household, this equates to 330 households in poverty. During the COVID pandemic, it became obvious that our community faced needs that were not served by the traditional NGO model, such as direct support to individuals to relieve pandemic-caused or exacerbated food and housing insecurity. As we saw everywhere in the world, COVID brought to light massive inequality in society, and how so many – in our own village and beyond – still face difficulties in meeting their basic needs. A guaranteed income program can be massively impactful in a small community like Yellow Springs exactly because of our small size. Not only will residents receive cash assistance on a monthly basis, but this project will also encourage community members to directly be involved in closing the inequality gap in our village. YSEQUITY actively works to promote and protect the diversity, equity and inclusion that is critical to the identity of Yellow Springs.