Newsletter | Springboard to Opportunities

In October, we announced that in response to the ongoing Jackson water crisis, we would be providing all families in our multifamily Jackson communities with $150 each month for six months to help cover the additional costs families were incurring due to continued water outages and unsafe drinking water. The last of these six month payments was disbursed this month and based on the feedback and evaluation of the program, we heard one big thing: cash works.

When asked “in times of crisis, which type of support is most helpful?,” 70% of respondents in the communities said cash. 17% preferred in-kind donations, while 13% had no preference.

When asked more about why they felt this way, the answer was clear – cash provides agency, choice, and the ability to deal with all the effects of a crisis, not just the obvious ones like not having water.

“With cash, you have options.”

Residents often cited the importance of being able to choose for themselves. Some talked about having delayed paying utility bills or other household necessities so that they could stock up on water. These participants were able to use the cash assistance toward their utility bills or rent. Another participant said she used the funds to pay her internet bill as schools were forced to close when they had no water and students needed WiFi to participate in virtual learning from home.

Others talked about using the funds to put gas in their car to make it to water distribution sites or drive to other towns to find water, especially when the shelves in stores in Jackson were empty. Still others cited that donated food – a necessity since residents were unable to cook with the water they had – often contains ingredients their families could not consume because of allergies or restrictions. Having cash allowed them to pick out items that they knew were safe and appropriate for their household.

“I could go shopping for my own personal needs and not have to wait in line and drive from site to site for assistance.”

“It allows me the freedom to allocate the assistance as I see fit.”

“Cash gives me the opportunity to budget and make sure I get everything.”

“It helps me pay on my high bills for having to boil my water in the kitchen where I don’t have hot water. This runs my light bill up high. I also can buy a few groceries with what is left over.”

“Because with cash I could, if I needed to, relocate. Go to a different county and pay for a room, or stay with a friend and help with her utilities while I’m there. Transportation to and from school or work.”

“Because during a crisis we need help in all ways and with cash it could help for anything that we are lacking.”

“We are able to get the things we need without all the stress and fear of not having what we need for our household.”

A crisis never just affects one part of a family’s life; it affects everything. Providing cash acknowledges this and trusts our residents to know better than anyone else what they need to care for their family through that crisis. When everything around someone feels like it is falling apart, cash gives back a bit of agency and stability. And that is what every family deserves, despite economic circumstances, in any crisis.

It has been an incredible past week here at Springboard To Opportunities.

Last week, we hosted our annual Night of Storytelling. Four of our Magnolia Mother’s Trust moms, Shaquille, Yamiracle, Anquoindria, and Sequaya, bravely shared a piece of their story with all of us in the audience.

They were beautiful stories of their journeys with motherhood, finding independence and agency, and dreaming of creating better futures for their children. They spoke of the ways that receiving the funds from MMT changed their lives, but even more importantly, they talked about the experiences and opportunities that had changed them.

They were able to be the mothers that they had always wanted to be – spending more time with their children, celebrating birthdays, and enrolling children in extracurricular activities. They built community with other people in the program and saw they were not alone. Their children grew in their confidence and social skills as they played on sports teams or visited museums and other parts of the country for the first time.

At the event, we also officially released our Magnolia Mother’s Trust Alumni Study. This study engaged with mothers from the first three cohorts of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust and their children. While we have always documented and shared the experiences of mothers as they took part in the 12 months of the program, we also wanted to understand the lasting changes that continued beyond that year for both the mothers and their children.

And our alumni report shows that MMT had a lasting positive impact on parenting efficacy, parent-child relationships, and children’s mental health, just like we heard our storytellers shared last week.

When most people talk about guaranteed income, they are only interested in hearing about economic markers of success. And while these are important and a part of our evaluations, too, we also know that the intrapersonal gains of programs like MMT, ones that center trust and voices of participants, are just as significant – especially for our mothers whose stories and experiences are often marginalized or dismissed.

Both an executive summary and the full report are below, and we hope you’ll take some time to read them. We would like to thank the amazing team at Social Insights Research who once again served as our evaluation partners and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for believing in this work and funding the evaluation.