Millions of Dollars To Be Handed Out Per Year – No Strings Attached – As US City Launches New Cash Aid Program

A US city is launching a cash aid program that will disperse millions of dollars per year to families living below the poverty line.

Billed as the “first-ever cash prescription program” in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the Rx Kids program has allocated $10 million to help pregnant and nursing mothers financially during the early stages of a baby’s life.

Selected participants will receive a one-time payment of $1,500 after 16 weeks of pregnancy and $500 every month for the first 12 months of the baby’s life.

Enrollment for the program kicked off on February 12th. The monthly payments will stop after the baby’s first birthday.

“Rx Kids is available to all City of Kalamazoo pregnant people and babies born on or after Feb. 1, 2025. Participants can sign up during pregnancy or until a child is six months of age. Cash prescriptions will start at the point of enrollment. There are no income requirements or strings attached. Families are free to spend their Rx Kids dollars as they see fit.”

The program has raised $10 million so far and the amount is expected to help run the project for two years. The program was started by the Michigan State University Pediatric Public Health Initiative in partnership with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan. It is administered by Give Directly, a nonprofit.

A similar program by the same organization was launched last year in Flint, a city located northeast of Kalamazoo.

Rx Kids director, Mona Hanna, says,

“When Rx Kids launched in Flint one year ago, the goal was to prove that we could successfully build an efficient and effective program to not only bolster family financial security and improve maternal and infant health outcomes, but to also share this ready-to-go program with communities across our great state.”

Update 3/3/25 — Removed references to the program as a guaranteed income pilot project.

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