SELECT Americans can still take advantage of monthly checks through a little-known initiative.
The money comes with no strings attached and is offered as financial support to local artists.
GettySome artists are getting financial assistance this year (stock image)[/caption] GettyUp to $500 payments are still going out this summer (stock image)[/caption]Designed by Springboard for the Arts, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, the Guaranteed Income for Artists pilot is still active.
In 2020, the program was introduced and supported 75 artists who lived in the Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods outside of Saint Paul and Otter Tail County.
Each participant was awarded $500 every month for 18 months.
After seeing a positive result with Guaranteed Income for Artists, it has been extended and expanded to include new beneficiaries, per a press release.
Springboard for the Arts even used its own general operating funds to help with the continued distributions, which will now go for over five years.
Other funding continues to come from the Bush, Kresge, Ford, and McKnight private foundations.
This makes it one of the longest-running guaranteed income pilot programs in the United States.
The most recent expansion increased the offering to 100 artists in Minnesota, who will continue to get $500 checks.
MONEY WELL SPENT
The nonprofit noted in the release that it found most participants were using the income for “critical needs.”
At least 36% was spent on essential services, 30% on food, and 10% on housing, according to the data.
“Our program is emerging as a national model, demonstrating how guaranteed income can transform artists’ lives, build community resilience, and strengthen local economies,” Laura Zabel, executive director at Springboard for the Arts, noted in a statement.
“We’re not just defying political headwinds — we’re changing the narrative with data, artwork, and meaningful stories of impact.”
“When artists can focus more on their work, families, art, and their community instead of worrying about basic needs, everyone benefits,” Zabel added.
Springboard is one of the very few organizations to offer financial support to local artists through guaranteed income programs.
How does Guaranteed Income work?
Guaranteed Income and Universal Basic Income programs have taken off in popularity recently.
After the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan of 2021 sent stimulus money to local governments, dozens began testing guaranteed income (GI) systems.
The specifics vary, but GI typically involves payouts to people with low incomes. Unlike traditional welfare, there are no job requirements, drug tests, or other strings attached.
Some have pushed for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would go to everyone regardless of how much money they make at work. Alaska has used a similar system since the 1970s.
Proponents say this alleviates poverty while incentivizing work, unlike classic welfare, which cuts benefits from people who begin earning “too much” money to qualify.
Opponents argue such a system is too expensive to function on a large scale and suggest Americans should avoid becoming reliant on government money.
With some cities heralding the success of GI programs, some Republican-led states have moved to ban them. States like Texas and Iowa, for example, have undermined major spending plans by pushing against GI.
In San Francisco, California, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts also launched a similar initiative in 2021, but it ended.
Creatives Rebuild New York also started a program in 2022 for about 2,400 artists, offering $1,000 monthly checks for 18 months.
Many guaranteed income programs around the country offer help to low-income residents.
HELPING HAND
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, UpTogether recently launched an initiative to provide qualifying residents with up to $750 a month in free assistance.
“Most people want to improve their situation. Most people want to have a better life. It’s really the system that keeps people in the situation that they are in,” UpTogether Southwest Partnership Director Ivanna Neri said in a statement.
“This shows when you trust and invest in people, people are then able to do better.”
Those who qualify are specifically families of students who are attending disadvantaged public schools for basic needs like housing, child care, and food, among others.
At least 80 households are set to get the $750 checks for an entire year, funded by the Cannabis Equity Reinvestment Solution.
Another guaranteed income program is helping families get up to $2,000 a month, so long as they meet certain criteria.
A ‘jumpstart’ program is also offering some Americans $500 monthly payments.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Americans in line for another round of $500 stimulus checks from ‘artist’ program – and there are no strings attached )
Also on site :