The Magnolia Mothers Trust

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!

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.

What We’ve Been Learning

While we love keeping you up-to-date on all things happening at Springboard, we also know many of you are interested in hearing more about The Magnolia Mother’s Trust. It is amazing to think that at this time last year, the idea of providing a basic income to the low-income mothers we work with on a daily basis was just a dream in my mind. Now, six months into the project, we have learned so much.

Our hope was for this project to stand in direct contrast to what is currently offered by our punitive welfare system: offering breathing room instead of an immediate reduction in benefits, including families as co-designers of the project, rather than paternalistically deciding what low-income families need or deserve, and trusting these women to use the resources offered in the best way that they see fit, rather than restricting their choices through vouchers and limitations.

Now halfway through this pilot, we are already so encouraged hearing the stories our moms are telling us. One has finally been able to pursue her GED and work toward her educational goals. Several have paid off students loans and other debts, improving their credit as they work toward larger goals of like home ownership. Others have enrolled in school and training courses as they pursue careers in fields like phlebotomy, medical billing, and social work. And one mom was simply able to take a sick day for the first time in her life without worrying about the repercussions.

But we’re not just collecting stories; we’re also collecting data. We want to know the power providing a basic income to low-income families can have, and we want to back that up with numbers. We are working with an evaluation team to explore four big questions:

Economic Security–can a basic income, not only alleviate symptoms of poverty, but actually provide a platform for exiting poverty?
Community Engagement–Will a basic income give families the space and desire to become more actively engaged in their community as leaders and program participants?
Self-Efficacy–Does a basic income reduce the stigma of public assistance and increase an individual’s desire to work outside the home and set goals for the future?
Defining Work–Can a basic income help individuals define fulfilling works for themselves, rather than finding a job that simply satisfies work requirements?

While we work to collect this data and answer these questions, we are continuing to invest in the mothers, hosting monthly gatherings on topics of their choice, providing mental health and emotional support as they navigate the questions and transitions that come with a big life change, and connecting the moms to each other and resources in the community as they build a network of support that will continue to uplift them and propel them toward their goals even after this year is over.

We thank you for your belief in us and most importantly for your belief in these incredible 20 mothers who are a part of this.