Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard To Opportunities in Jackson, MS, trusted the women to do the right thing by their families. Her organization worked to meet their needs – but their problems were not only persistent, they were incredibly complex.
Race, gender, and class injustices had sentenced them to a lifetime of housing insecurity, hunger, and poverty. Springboard’s solution, which emerged from focused study and input from the women themselves, was simple but radical.
“Families need more cash ... and the system for obtaining supplementary benefits is stressful, dehumanizing, and time-consuming,” reads Springboard’s website.
Families CAN be trusted to help themselves rise above hardship and stretch their aspirations, Nyandoro believes, if only they are given some financial breathing room. Thus the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, a basic income experiment, was born.
Starting in 2018, 20 Black single mothers were given $1,000 deposits each, monthly – no questions asked!
And the program has been incredibly successful. Women paid off student loan debt, accessed health care, and invested in their families. But that wasn’t even the most important part.
The cash, along with individual counseling, coaching, and other supports, helped increase the mothers’ household capacity and showed that when we return dignity and trust to the hands of affected populations, we can potentially disrupt historically harmful “safety nets” that perpetually degrade those in need.