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Guaranteed Income for Yellow Springs and Miami Township Residents

Application now closed.
Next application window opens Spring 2024.

Check Eligibility

Overview

YSEQUITY, an initiative supported by the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, will open applications for the next cohort Spring 2024 to provide 15 residents of Yellow Springs and Miami Township with $300 each month over a period of 24 months ($7,200 in total per individual). YSEQUITY is the second guaranteed income program in Ohio and the first documented program in a village in the United States. The goal is to add 15 additional residents in 2023 with a sustainable 30 residents in the following years.

Guaranteed income, also known as basic income, is a social and economic justice approach which provides assistance to families in need with minimal bureaucracy, filling gaps left by existing social safety net programs. GI’s approach is founded on trusting that participants know how to best meet their own needs and are in need of financial assistance in order to meet their own goals. Hence, assistance flows in the most efficient way possible: giving people in need cash that they can use to meet their needs.

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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.

Guaranteed Income Application

Are you eligible for applying for YSEQUITY? There are three eligibility requirements:
  1. Residence in Yellow Springs or Miami Township
  2. Age of 18 or older
  3. Annual household earnings below the threshold set by federal guidelines as stated in the table below:
Household earnings table

Annual household earnings

Number in family
Household income threshold
1
40,770
2
54,930
3
69,090
4
83,250
5
97,410
6
111,570
7
125,730
8
139,890
> 8 Members
Add $14,160 for each

Follow this link to review the application or start the process. If you have questions or need help completing the application, please schedule an appointment by submitting the Contact Us form below, or by calling 937-767-2655.

APPLICATION OPENs spring 2024

Frequently Asked Questions

YSEQUITY is a guaranteed income (also known as basic income) pilot in Yellow Springs and Miami Township, launched in the Fall of 2022. YSEQUITY is financially supported by the Yellow Springs Community Foundation and private donors from the YS community.

Guaranteed income is a type of cash transfer program that provides continuous unconditional cash transfers to individuals or households. This differs from typical social safety net policies by providing a steady, predictable stream of cash to recipients to spend however they see fit without limitations.

Guaranteed income policies and their variants, including basic income, citizen dividends, partial basic income, and universal basic income, have minimal or no eligibility requirements. A guaranteed income may or may not meet basic needs.

No evidence suggests that people stop working once they receive payments; research goes back to the 1970s with GI pilots around the world. GI addresses basic needs that working households may experience problems covering, like healthcare and housing, but also supports participants in leading more balanced lives by promoting mental and emotional health.

Support for guaranteed income goes back to the founding of the United States and the writing of Thomas Payne. Since then as diverse a group as Milton Friedman, Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Yang and the Pope have supported GI.

  • World After Capital by Albert Wenger 
  • Raising the Floor by Andy Stern 
  • The War on Normal People by Andrew Yang

Who can participate and how will recipient households be selected?

Residents of the Village of Yellow Springs and Miami Township who are above the age of 18 and earn less than a threshold set by federal guidelines are eligible to be selected. Selection will be via a random lottery, weighted by equity factors, and independently conducted by our partner at the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania. If you previously completed an application and were not selected, you must re-apply for the next cohort.

No, one application per household, as defined as individuals residing at the same address. 

Unfortunately, at this time proof of address is required to participate in the lottery. However, YSCF has developed specific resources to support those who are unhoused in Yellow Springs. For more information, contact info@ysequity.org.

Participants will be given $300 each month for 2 years (24 monthly payments of $300 or $7,200 in total).

There are no strings attached or obligations required of participants to receive payments. Participants are required to attend an initial onboarding meeting with YSEQUITY staff in order to receive their payments. All subsequent research and story-telling opportunities are voluntary.

This question can only be answered on a case-by-case basis. Prior to committing to participating, all recipients will be offered benefits’ counseling to decide if participation is best for their specific situation.

The program will not disclose the identities of the participants publicly, however, participants are
free to do so personally if they wish. All press and other inquiries related to the program and its participants must be sent to info@ysequity.org.

No one besides the external research team. A small number of YSCF staff (1-3 individuals) will know the final participants who are selected in order to implement the program.

Participants will have access to program staff with any questions or issues they may encounter. Participants who wish to participate in research or story-telling opportunities will be supported by YSEQUITY staff throughout the process.

Participants will be offered a wide range of learning opportunities, including financial empowerment. Participation will be on a voluntary basis.

The goal is to add 15 residents in 2023 with a sustainable 30 residents in the following years. If you have applied and were not selected, you will need to re-apply.

YSEQUITY is made possible by private donors and the YSCF. The initial start up costs are also being supported by a Greene County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant. 

Absolutely! Donate to the Yellow Springs Community Foundation to support YSEQUITY and ensure it continues to support households most in need in our community. A donation of $325 covers payment to one participant for one month; $3,900 covers 12 months; and $7,800 covers the full 24 month cycle. A donation of $100,000 to the YSEQUITY endowment covers payments for one participant, in perpetuity.

All feedback and questions can be sent by filling out the form below.

Resources

Guaranteed income is a growing and vibrant field of research, practice, and constant innovation. To learn more about this world of work, here are some of the leading institutes studying and practicing guaranteed income:

The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED)

HudsonUP (Currently the guaranteed income pilot closest to the size of Yellow Springs)

Economic Security Project

Guaranteed Income Community of Practice

Center for Guaranteed Income Research

Stanford Basic Income Lab

Donate

YSEQUITY actively works to promote and protect the diversity, equity and inclusion that is critical to the identity of Yellow Springs. This is a community-developed, community-led, and community-driven initiative. This means we need your support to ensure YSEQUITY meets our community’s needs, now and in the future.

Any contribution is welcome, but please consider making a promise to commit support to YSEQUITY over time. This will allow us to build the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fund to ensure YSEQUITY runs in perpetuity, resulting in the only guaranteed income initiative in the country supported by a community foundation endowment. This means:

  • Monthly Support: A donation of $325 covers payment to one participant for one month
  • Annual Support: A donation of $3,900 covers payments to one participant for one year
  • Two Year Support: A donation of $7,800 covers payments to one participant for two years (one full cycle of participation)
  • In Perpetuity Support: A donation of $100,000 covers payments in perpetuity to one of the 30 participants at any given time

Make your promise to support YSEQUITY as an organization, family or community group. Together, we can do more!

Contact Us

108 Dayton Street
P.O. Box 55
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
937-767-2655

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