‘Is this real?’ 150 families receive first stipends from Fresno’s guaranteed basic income project

This week, the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission distributed the first $500 monthly stipends to 150 Fresno County families in the area’s first guaranteed basic income pilot – though the agency was forced to turn down roughly 9,000 applicants.

Fresno County’s first guaranteed basic income pilot came with the promise of one year of monthly stipends for 75 families from the 93706 ZIP code in southwest Fresno and 75 from the 93234 ZIP code in the rural community of Huron. These ZIP codes are home to some of the area’s highest levels of concentrated poverty.

But the agency received just under 10,000 applications total, said Emilia Reyes, CEO of the Fresno EOC, in a news conference Wednesday.

The overwhelming number of applicants – many of whom met the program’s income eligibility requirements – speaks to the need for a program like this, organizers say.

“Whether our families need extra support for healthcare, help putting food on the table, help (to) keep the lights on, pay rent, have an opportunity for a better job or get some assistance in education,” Reyes said, “this program makes a difference.”

Studies have shown guaranteed basic income programs are an effective tool for alleviating poverty. California has been home to many such pilots, including a high-profile experiment led by Stockton’s former Mayor Michael Tubbs in 2019.

Although Fresno was shut out of state funding for guaranteed basic income pilots in 2022 – much to the surprise of local advocates – the Fresno EOC announced in February it had rounded up enough funders to make a local program happen anyway.

Half the project’s $1 million in funding comes from the California Wellness Foundation.

The EOC tapped Fresno State’s Center for Community Voices team to collect data and lead program evaluation, which is already underway, associate professor Amber Crowell shared Wednesday.

Participating families said the first payment has already empowered them to invest in their kids.

Patricia Cail, a recipient in southwest Fresno, said she was able to buy new clothes for her child leading up to the start of the school year.

“That’s a big help out for me,” she said.

‘Is this program really real?’

Initially, however, Cail said she thought the program was a scam.

So did Nancy Ramirez, a participant from Huron.

“I also had the same reaction. Is this real?” she said, speaking through a Spanish-language interpreter. “Is this program really real?”

They weren’t alone in that, Crowell told Fresnoland.

“There’s just that kind of anxiety, right,” Crowell said, “that there’s going to be some hitch down the road (and) actually, you’re not going to get this, because that’s probably happened to them before: That they thought something was going to come through, and then there was some complications and bureaucratic nonsense that stopped them.”

The guaranteed basic income program, on the other hand, doesn’t come with any red tape. The 12 monthly stipends are no-strings-attached.

In initial surveys and focus groups, Crowell said many families are focused on immediate needs: emergency car repairs amid Fresno’s record-breaking heat this summer and back-to-school expenses, for example.

“We’re hoping as the program carries on and they stabilize – because right now they’re not stable – that they’ll be able to start thinking more long-term,” Crowell added, “because they have the room and space and support to do it.”

How evaluation will work 

Applicants had to report income 80% or below the median income for each respective ZIP code, which was less than $30,615 for folks in southwest Fresno and less than $35,103 for Huron residents. They also had to either be pregnant or have children under the age of 5.

The 150 families who met this criteria were then chosen through a lottery system administered by the Center for Community Voices.

Initial surveys demonstrate “solid representation of the diverse racial and ethnic groups who reside in southwest Fresno and Huron communities,” Crowell said.

Overall, 17% of participants are Black or African American, 66% are Hispanic or Latinx, 7% are white and 4.5% are Asian or Asian American, she shared.

In the southwest Fresno area specifically, roughly 33% of participants are Black or African American, 50% are Hispanic or Latinx, and 10% are Asian or Asian American.

In Huron, 77% are Hispanic or Latinx, 11% are white, and 6.5% are Black or African American.

The Fresno State team will conduct quarterly surveys with these participants over the next year. 

They’ll compare what they hear from the participating families with a control group of an additional 150 families from the 93706 and 93234 ZIP codes who were eligible for the program and applied but were not ultimately selected.

The goal is to share the findings with policymakers and the public to show the impact of guaranteed basic income as a new way to combat poverty in Fresno.

“Even the critics,” Reyes told Frensoland, “are looking forward to seeing this program be successful. They want to see the evaluation outcomes.”

“This has been a tremendous help for me,” Ramirez said, “and it could benefit a lot more families.”

Disclosure: Amber Crowell is a Fresnoland board member. The California Wellness Foundation is also a Fresnoland funder.