Since 2018, Springboard has been a leader in the direct cash assistance field. The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, our guaranteed income program, provides $1,000 each month for 12 months to over 100 Black mothers living in affordable housing in Jackson, Mississippi. Each child of an MMT participant also receives a $1,000 deposit in a 529 savings account. Now the longest running guaranteed income initiative in the recent cash-without-restrictions movement, MMT’s emphasis on centering trust, dignity, and equity has served as a model for cash disbursement programs nationwide. In 2020, Springboard co-founded the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice (GICP), which convenes policy experts advocates, researchers, leaders, funders, practitioners, and elected officials to learn and collaborate in the growing field of unconditional cash programs.
We have continued to build upon the groundbreaking work of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust by both expanding cash disbursement work and exploring new avenues for economic well-being programs. Springboard provides cash disbursements to residents following climate, infrastructure, or policy related emergencies. For example, during the 2022 water crisis in Jackson, we provided all families in Springboard communities with $150 each month for six months as they dealt with the ongoing consequences of water outages and disruptions. In 2024, when Mississippi decided to opt-out of the USDA’s Summer EBT program, we announced that we would provide summer cash disbursements to families with school-aged children to offset the costs of not having meals provided at school during the summer months.
We continue to explore opportunities for economic well-being that center mutual care and community, such as Lending Circles that allow for collective support and trust building, while helping individuals work toward their financial and personal goals. As with all our work, our socioeconomic well-being programs recognize that finances are just one part of a person’s life and well-being. We are working toward a vision of Holistic Prosperity – pairing economic supports with other tools, such as building social capital, mental health and self-care programs, resident-centered coaching, and opportunities for children – to create pathways for whole families to thrive.