Residents of Virginia city to receive $500 every month for two years
Asher Notheis
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A relatively small number of residents in Alexandria, Virginia, have been selected for a program that will give them $500 every month over the course of two years.
The program, titled Alexandria’s Recurring Income for Success and Equity, has selected 170 recipients to receive the monthly payments. They will all be free to spend the money in any way they see fit.
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Mayor Justin Wilson said the program was created with the intent of evolving how the city helps its residents who are in need of financial support, according to a news release.
“We believe we’re on track to get the first payment out in February of 2023,” ARISE coordinator Julie Mullen told the Washington Examiner. “However, all 170 participants must be onboarded before we can distribute the first payment. If there are any unforeseen hiccups as we onboard participants, it could delay the first payment. So far, we’re on track and are not foreseeing any delays.”
The city began notifying applicants that they had been randomly selected on Dec. 13. If one of these applicants withdraws from the program, however, the city’s research partner, Abt Associates, will randomly select participants from the program’s application pool to replace the withdrawn candidate, Mullen said.
Applications for the program opened on Oct. 31 and closed a little more than a week later on Nov. 9. To have been eligible, applicants must have been residents of the city, 18 or older, and earn 50% or less of Alexandria’s area median income, which varies depending on the number of people in the applicant’s household.
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For people with only one person in a household, the monthly income limit is $4,154, with the annual income limit at $49,890. The monthly and annual limits increase slightly with every person in a household, with the monthly income limit for a two-person household being $4,746 and the annual limit for the same household being $56,950.
Additional information regarding the program can be found on Alexandria’s website.