Sunday 18 September 2022 12:44 AM Denver is set to provide 140 homeless people with $12,000 cash - no strings ... trends now
Denver is set to provide 140 homeless people with $12,000 in cash with no strings attached to help get them out of destitution, despite soaring crime rates in the Mile-High City.
The city has allocated $2million from the American Rescue Plan Act to fund the program, which will be run by the Denver Basic Income Project.
The total program, which will cost around $9million, is seeking to help around 820 people, but the $2million provided by the city will fund around 140 people.
The rest of the money will be raised through charitable foundations, including the Colorado Health Foundation and the Denver Foundation, Denver Basic Income Project founder Mark Donovan told Axios Denver.
Around 4,700 households are experiencing homelessness in Denver as of January 2022.
The participants - which will mainly be women, transgender and gender non-confirming individuals - will be chosen at random after applying and will more than likely begin receiving payments starting in November, according to ABC 7 Denver.
Denver Basic Income Project founder Mark Donovan (pictured) and his team will provide 820 homeless people with money. 520 of them will receive $12,000 each over the course of a year as part of a study to see if a basic income system would help with housing and mental health
'The pandemic has had a really big impact on the state of homelessness in our community that we've seen increased numbers of families seeking shelter, as well as, an increase number of women using our shelter system,' Angie Nelson, deputy director of Housing Stability and Homelessness Resolution, told ABC 7.
The program is divided into three different groups, with 260 receiving $6,500 up front and then getting $500 a month for 12 months; another 260 will receive $1,000 a month for 12 months; and the control group of 300 will get a $50-a-month stipend to complete surveys.
All participants will also get a free cell phone and a year of service.
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