Gary's guaranteed income program could be getting more funding. The city council will decide next week whether to allocate $400,000 toward the Guaranteed Income Validation Effort (G.I.V.E.).
Last year, 125 residents were randomly selected to get $500 a month for a year. The effort got $500,000 in seed money from the national group, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. G.I.V.E. Executive Director Burgess Peoples says the $400,000 from the city would complete that initial program.
"There are some that took some of the dollars, and they are beautifying their blocks. They remodeled their homes. One lady had put a new roof on her house with these dollars, where before she didn't have enough money to do that. So we have a higher percentage of individuals that are in this program that are actually using these dollars for the betterment of not just themselves, but where they live, also," Peoples told the city council's ways and means committee Tuesday
She says many of the recipients are taking advantages of the resources offered through G.I.V.E., such as financial literacy courses. Some have opened bank accounts, and a few have even enrolled in higher education.
Mayor Jerome Prince says G.I.V.E. works. "The program is in jeopardy of ending permanently, and I think that these folks have come such a long way and they're doing well, to give them just a extra little boost and a little time to continue to reap the benefit," he told council members.
The goal is to collect data to explore the possibility of a national guaranteed income program. Peoples says she's also been in talks with other Northwest Indiana mayors who may be interested in bringing G.I.V.E. to their cities.
