Through a new guaranteed resource program, called the Bridge Project, Latina women in New York City will be able to receive an income boost that will pay some expectant and baby mothers $500 to $1,000 a month over a three-year period. .
Approximately half of the Bridge Project participants are black women and the other half are Latina. Of these, a first group of 100 mothers already began receiving payments last July 2021.
The second group of 500 women will be made up of new expectant mothers, especially those located in East Harlem, Manhattan. These mothers will start receiving their subsidies in April this year.
Of the participants in this project, one in five is undocumented and the majority reside in the neighborhoods of Central Harlem, Inwood and Washington Heights in Manhattan.
The last incentive of this type given by the federal government was in the midst of the pandemic caused by Covid-19, where three stimulus checks were sent, and monthly aid for children of up to $300 per child was also approved. However, these aids expired this January.
Without the monthly tax credit money that women received for their children, almost four million children could fall into poverty, according to research from Columbia University in New York.
Many American cities are also experimenting with their own guaranteed rent projects aimed at helping low-income residents improve their financial security. The Bridge Project is the first to focus on New York.
The idea for the project comes from the Monarch Foundation, a private family foundation run by Holly Fogle, a social entrepreneur, and her husband, venture capitalist Jeff Lieberman.
Daniela Gutierrez, 28, of Harlem, was accepted as part of the first group of women and said she was surprised to learn about the program when a social worker recommended she apply. “I didn’t know if it was a trick,” he said.
Gutierrez has been receiving $1,000 a month, a sum she describes as a “lifeline.”
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