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Introducing Front and Center

Over the last few months, you’ve been hearing us say that we are working to change the narrative by changing the narrator. We have always known that low-income families themselves are the ones who should be telling their own stories instead of being mediated through gate keepers or thought leaders or even our staff. We had already started our commitment to that work this year with our first storytelling night with Melissa Harris-Perry, the establishment of our Springboard Storytelling Lab, and one of our Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms, Brenita Burns, had her very own Op-Ed published just last week in Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity.

And today, we’re thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Ms. Magazine to launch a series of Op-Eds entitled Front and Center that will feature the voices and stories of the women of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust. The published pieces will not solely be about guaranteed income, but will be first-person accounts of Black women living in extreme poverty sharing the reality of their daily lives, their dreams, and their struggles. It will be a national platform for their stories and experiences to be heard and a way to ensure that their voices, as the name suggests, are kept front and center.

The Magnolia Mother’s Trust has always been more than a guaranteed income project set up to prove that cash works because frankly, we already knew that. The Magnolia Mother’s Trust is working to center the voices of those affected most by the paternalistic and punitive public policies. As we move into this next year, we know that some of the most important policy debates, particularly as it relates to the social safety net, are going to be happening. Too often, those debates are shaped by abstract ideas and false narratives. This project is a chance to ground new narratives in trust, dignity, and the actual stories and experiences of Black mothers.

I’m purposefully keeping my letter short today, because I hope you’ll spend some time reading the introductory Front and Center column from myself and Kathy Spiller, and get ready for the first mother’s piece, written by Tia Cunningham, a Magnolia Mother’s Trust participant from our very first cohort, that will be released tomorrow! And make sure you’re following us on social media to be the first to see new features as they come out twice every month for the next year. We promise these are stories you want and need to hear!

When Community and Policy Come Together

A Springboard resident helping deliver food to families

Springboard To Opportunities has always emphasized the importance of direct service work paired with policy and systemic change. Good policy cannot exist without the voices and stories of those in communities and direct service work only has lasting impact when strong policies, informed by the real lives and experiences of those historically most marginalized and overlooked, back them up. This important interplay has been especially central for us in these past few weeks.

Jackson has been experiencing an ongoing water crisis following the winter storms in February that froze the aging water system for several days. Even after the ice thawed, continued shifts in the ground caused water main breaks, delaying water restoration efforts further. While most parts of the city have water again, almost everyone remains under a boil water notice. Bottled water has been difficult to impossible to find and boiling enough water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, and other needs for a family is overwhelming.

We immediately leapt into action as families expressed their water and food needs, and we are thankful for an incredible community response by so many. Alongside several partners, we were able to distribute over 1,100 cases of water to families and more than 1,500 hot meals over the last several weeks.

It has been amazing to witness the way the community came together to support families during this time, and we are grateful for new and continued partnerships that made this possible. But we also know without systems-level changes and major infrastructure upgrades that will require cooperation and support from all levels of government, this will likely happen again. And we know it is important for all members of the community, especially those in the hardest hit communities, to be included in this conversation.

On a national level, we are also seeing how critical the connection between direct services and policy can be. The landmark legislation of the recently passed American Rescue Plan has the possibility to reshape our social safety net system in remarkable ways, including expanded access to food, healthcare, and housing supports that center people as opposed to organizations. But perhaps most exciting for us was the expansion of the Child Tax Credit, which provides additional cash to low-income families without work requirements or restrictions on use. Instead of coming in one fell swoop as the current tax credit comes, it will come at regular intervals, most likely monthly, essentially providing families with a guaranteed income based on the number of children in their home.

It was not lost on us (and hopefully not on you!), how similar this policy is to our guaranteed income program, The Magnolia Mother’s Trust. The intent of our program was always to produce research and analysis that could influence policy on a federal level. While we recognize our program has been life-changing for so many women, we know the problematic systems that entrap families across the country in poverty cannot be solved by one program alone. Though the provision in the act is temporary, we believe there is a real opportunity to move toward permanent legislation and reshape the social safety net as we know it.

This policy makes our work regarding guaranteed income even more critical. As we announced a few weeks ago, we are embarking on our third iteration of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust with another group of 102 women. We will be continuing with a robust evaluation of the program to understand the experience of the mothers throughout the year. We will be able to show on a human and community level how a guaranteed income and policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit can be life-changing for families. We will have data to show the effects on work, healthcare, children’s school performance, and the ability to care for one’s own family. And most importantly, we will have mothers whose stories and expertise can be utilized to ensure permanent policy is shaped by their voices, creating inclusive policies that support all people.

As always, our commitment is to centering the voices of our families, and we trust them to know what they need both in programs and services and in supportive policies. We feel very hopeful about the possibilities that exist for the next 12 months, and we look forward to working alongside them and all of you to advocate for systems and programs that center trust and dignity and bring about real equity and opportunity for all families.

We’ve Got Some Big Announcements!

We have some big announcements today – our groundbreaking program, the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, is launching a new cohort with at least 100 moms! This makes our program the longest-running guaranteed income program in the United States since the late ‘60s, and it is still the only guaranteed income program in the world to focus exclusively on Black women. Beginning in April, these families will receive $1,000 a month for one year. Results from our latest round, which occurred entirely during the pandemic, show the power of cash to improve lives quickly. Moms who received guaranteed income were 40% less likely to need to borrow money, and their children were 20% more likely to perform above grade level. While the results are important to track, we already know that cash helps people living in extreme poverty. In launching our third round, we are moving beyond “proving” and instead to “moving” – we are building a movement that is centered on dignity and deservedness for all, starting with Black women.

We will do this through doubling down on our commitment to center the lives of those we serve. The heart of Springboard’s work has always been about stories. Our organization started by knocking on doors, sitting on people’s couches, and hearing their stories. Those stories formed the basis of our programs, our staffing structure, and all of our work. Those stories were the origin of our guaranteed income initiative, The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, and became the driving force of our policy publications, like Becoming Visible and Centering the Margins.

But story does not just inform our work; story informs everything. It is the stories that we believe about other people that influence our choices and decision making, both as individuals and as a society. It is the stories we are told about low-income families that inform policy and create the rules and stipulations around programs, like our social safety net system. But far too often, those stories are based on false narratives and stereotypes rather than reality.

We believe is so important to recognize not only whose stories we are hearing, but who is the storyteller. We have said over and over that no one is more equipped to tell the stories of low-income families than families themselves. Families are the true experts on their own lives and as we look for ways to repair our broken welfare system, particularly in light of the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are desperately in need of their wisdom. The power of their words was on display last week, as part of an intimate evening of storytelling co-hosted by journalist and author Melissa Harris-Perry. Melissa and I were honored to have four Magnolia mothers share their experiences with us, including their hopes and dreams. There was a common thread throughout, a desire to be heard beyond just one community or one event.

Mother’s participating with Melissa Harris-Perry in our inaugural storytelling night!

That’s why we are so excited to announce the launch of a new Storytelling Lab in partnership with FRESH Speakers! In the coming year, we will be partnering with writers and communication experts to lead courses that will prepare to Springboard residents to share their stories on a broader scale and with a larger audience. The lab will support residents as they create both written stories that can be published as op-eds and craft oral stories that will be a part of a storytelling events, town halls, or policy conferences.

We know that elevating the stories of our families is vital to creating inclusive policy and practices that not only honor families’ experiences, but actually have the power to move the needle forward on breaking cycles of poverty and creating a more just and equitable society for all people. While many of our residents are used to be cut off or shut out of the conversation, it is our hope that this Storytelling Lab will equip them with both the skills and confidence, as well as the belief that their stories are exactly what is needed in our world today.

As our country moves into a new chapter together, we have an opportunity to hear and write new stories, and we intend to make every effort to ensure our families’ stories are a part of that. We cannot wait to start sharing them with all of you soon.

Caring for Caregivers

It is hard to believe 2020 is almost over. In some ways, it seems like just yesterday that we were making decisions about closing our offices, postponing meetings, and figuring out what we had to do to pivot as an organization to best support our staff and families given the changing world.

We quickly saw that this pivot was not going to be for a few weeks or even a few months. We are in this for the long-haul, and our world has fundamentally shifted into a new reality. We can no longer pretend that the development of a vaccine or effective treatment will allow us to just flip a switch and return back to “normal.” All of our lives and realities have fundamentally shifted and that requires a fundamental shift in how we operate as an organization and as a staff.

One of those fundamental shifts is the recognition of the importance of caregiving and caregivers in our world. Many of our residents are professional caregivers, home health aids, daycare workers, and certified nursing assistants. Our staff works as caregivers for family, providing supportive assistance and services. Both our residents and staff care for their own children, family members, and neighbors. Without the traditional support structures, like school systems or healthcare facilities, we are recognizing that the title of caregiver belongs to all of us.

Our partners at The Holding Co just released their Care 100 list, highlighting those working to re-imagine and re-humanize our care system. I am honored that Springboard’s work and The Magnolia Mother’s Trust are recognized on this list, highlighting the important role cash can play in caregiving. But what I particularly love about this list is the wide variety of leaders and sectors that are represented. It reminds us that we need a bigger definition of caregiving that goes beyond the traditional categories. And it reminds us that not only are we all caregivers, but we are also all the recipients of care, as well.

As an organization, we are doing our best to find ways to support our families in both of these roles. Many of our Magnolia Mother’s Trust recipients have been participating in a new Leaders in Community Fellowship program, an opportunity for them to learn leadership development and community building skills. Over the past few months, they have built relationships and developed strategies for self and community care. But they are also being equipped with these skills so that they can share them with other members in their community, including new Magnolia Mother’s Trust recipients, in the future, and step into the caregiver role themselves.

This is just one small way that our thinking and responses have shifted in recognition of our new reality. While there is so much that has been hard in the past 7 months, I am grateful to have had the space and time to think about the different roles we play and what it means to be a healthy and responsive caregiving organization. It is my hope that each of us will spend more time recognizing our own roles as caregivers and giving thanks to those from whom we receive care.

Reimagining Self-Care

There is no denying that last 6 months have taken a toll on the mental health of every single person. There are constant unknowns, financial strains, and new anxieties for all of us. However, we have been especially concerned during these last 6 months with how these new anxieties are compounding upon the traumas the families Springboard serves face every day and have been enduring for generations.

Since the beginning, Springboard has believed in supporting a whole person and creating programs that holistically support residents because we knew it would take more than a specific skill set or one program to help residents meet their goals. Our Career Success program included a licensed social worker who individually supported families with the transition of going back to work or school. The Magnolia Mother’s Trust includes additional leadership and community support elements that help participants explore topics like self-care and creating a network of support. Our programs for middle and high school students connect young people with mentors who provide safe spaces for them to explore their identity, beliefs, and future goals.

But while we’ve known that mental health is fundamental to the work we do of supporting families, we have never had the opportunity to study its full impact and understand the implications it might have for social support policies and programs. That’s why we’re excited to once again be a partner organization in the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community, an initiative of Ascend at the Aspen Institute. The Family Prosperity Community is made up of community organizations, policy groups, and thought leaders from the business world, government, and civil society with the goal of refining and amplifying fresh strategies and solutions that strengthen parents’ and families’ access to everything they need to thrive.

During our time in the cohort, we will be implementing a mental health and self-care support initiative with a group of mothers in our communities. We are partnering with organizations that intentionally take a racial and gender equity lens into mental health conversations and are experts in trauma-informed care, to develop a self-care plan for families that is culturally relevant and not steeped in consumeristic and middle-class frameworks as many self-care conversations frequently are.

When families are given the tools to take care of their mental health, particularly in the midst of a pandemic, are they able to set and work toward new goals? Do children in the household experience greater stability and participate more actively in school? Do families experience better health outcomes when they are better equipped to handle the chronic stress and trauma that comes along with being a person of color and living in poverty in this country?

These are just some the questions that we are looking to explore this year, and we are excited to do so alongside thought partners from multiple sectors and fields who can help us think through how all these pieces connect to larger policies and practices that can ultimately improve outcomes for all families. Even during this anxious time, we are excited to be embarking on new work and to be a part of a network dedicated to seeing all families thrive.

Resident Services in a Pandemic

We have been talking a lot lately about cash. Between the launch and expansion of the new cohort of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, our Emergency Cash Disbursement Campaign, and the newfound energy policymakers and other community leaders have had around conversations concerning cash disbursements, it is no surprise that this is what we have been talking about.

And while we’re grateful and excited for this new energy around cash, we also know that at our heart, Springboard To Opportunities is a resident service provider trying to reimagine what resident services can look like for families living in low-income housing through a radically resident-driven lens. But what does it look like to provide services to families when we must be six feet apart? What does it mean to be radially resident-driven when hosting community conversations and listening sessions is no longer an option? How do we respond to needs like education support and finding jobs when traditional after school programs and career services are no longer safe to implement?

While these questions are on their surface daunting and overwhelming, we are also excited for the opportunity to be answering them. It is easy to just try to do more of the same – try to offer our normal slate of programming virtually, try to maintain some normalcy until this is all past us – but what if our job right now is not to just maintain until all of this goes away? What if our job is to do the hard work of really looking at our organizations to understand how our work and mission fits into the new reality that we are all living in?

This summer, we have delivered over 5,000 boxes of food to families in need and brought 9,000 meals on site through feeding partners to children in need in our communities. We have been helping those who have lost work or hours apply for unemployment benefits and identify local resources to help with rent and utility payments. We have utilized social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to share our summer camp videos for families to watch and participate in activities through. We’re checking in with families as they make decisions about the upcoming school year and are asking them directly how we can be supportive in terms of virtual learning and finding support from other parents in their community. We are researching and trying out new programs around mental health and self-care, particularly to support single mothers in this time.

It is very different than what a normal summer with Springboard To Opportunities looks like and there are still a lot of new things we are learning and figuring out, but we knew it was our job as an organization to adjust to the needs to families, not the other way around.

The truth is none of us know when the pandemic is going to end and even when it does, there will be no returning to what we once understood as normal. All of us will be continue to feel the trauma and anxiety of this time, and for our families, who in many ways have been hit the hardest by all the consequences of COVID-19, the effects will be serious and long-lasting. We have to be asking hard questions about what we need to be doing to shift in order to maintain our mission as an organization. The needs of vulnerable families are shifting rapidly and it is our job as organizations and policymakers to be innovative and creative and shift accordingly to best serve those who need it most. It should not be our expectation that families just trying to survive will shift to accommodate us.

As the world continues to change, we will keep exploring these questions and continue to be as creative and innovative as possible. We are trying new things, some that work well and some that need adjusting, but our commitment is to be an organization helping residents reach their goals in life, work, and school, even in the midst of a pandemic.