What's Happening in Tacoma, WA…

A new guaranteed income program will be coming to Tacoma later this year.

Growing Resilience in Tacoma, or GRIT, announced by Mayor Victoria Woodards, will provide 100 families $500 a month for one year. These funds are designed to supplement the wages of those who are above the poverty line. The United Way of Pierce County will administer the program.

Households that are the focus of this program are those earning an income, but without sufficient savings to cover a financial emergency or the essentials. These are families who typically earn less than $52,000 a year. Other households that will be the focus of this program will be those who are black, indigenous, and people of color, as well as single heads of households who also meet these criteria. A research team from the University of Pennsylvania will select participants in the program at random from the pool of those who apply.

Woodards said that this is the ideal time to launch such a program to demonstrate to local, state, and federal parties how much difference such a program can make in the community. Poster printing placed in key locations in a city can inform those in need of such a program.

The United Way will begin accepting applications for the program in June and July. The program is expected to begin in late summer.