More mothers, struggling in New York City, will soon be able to receive help with no strings attached.
The Bridge Project started in 2021 by helping pregnant mothers in Manhattan. Women living in certain neighborhoods there were given monthly debit cards. The program was a test, of sorts, on providing financial help to mothers in need for the first three years of a child’s life. Now, the project is expanding.
In the coming months, The Bridge Project will operate in Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens, and Rochester, NY, according to Bloomberg. The program will provide mothers with biweekly payments of $1000 for three years. Then participants will receive $500 a month for another 18 months.
Initiatives For Marginalized Communities
The Bridge Project was founded by the family-owned company, The Monarch Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to bridge inclusivity and diminish child poverty. The program aims to amplify voices in underserved communities. The foundation continues to research the effects of monetary initiatives that benefit “maternal health outcomes,” family dynamics, and early childhood developments. The program wanted to give families a chance to receive allowances with no strings attached.
Resources To Break Generational Poverty
The program’s intent is to address racial disparities in New York. As the project moves from pilot to permanent, it hopes to reach 1,100 impoverished children across the New York. The first three stages of the project will cost up to $32 million, according to Bloomberg. Participants do no have to provide work documents to receive payments. Megha Agarwal, The Bridge Project’s executive director, told the publication she wishes cities would treat guaranteed income as a necessity rather than a social experiment. The program refuses to take notes on how mothers spend their money.