The City of Los Angeles is kicking off a new initiative Wednesday morning that will provide thousands of dollars in cash and help thousands of Los Angeles residents in need and affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Basic Income Guaranteed: Los Angeles Economic Assistance Pilot,” or BIG: LEAP, is a new program totaling nearly $40 million, set to begin later in October and benefit around 3,000 Angelenos.
Those 3,000 residents will receive $1,000 monthly, direct cash payments for 12 months, no strings attached.
The initiative makes Los Angeles the largest city in the United States to launch a basic income program.
Eligibility to receive funds is based on a few different factors. Applicants to the program must:
- Live in the City of Los Angeles,
- Be at least 18 years old,
- Have at least one dependent child OR be pregnant,
- Have experienced a medical or economic hardship related to COVID-19, and
- Have an income level at or below the federal poverty line.
For a family of four, that poverty line falls at an annual income of $26,500.
The 3,000 Los Angeles families the program provides for will be randomly chosen from the applications submitted to receive the funds.
City Councilman Curren Price is spearheading the initiative. More than 12% of the people living in his district, District 9, are living in poverty.
The pandemic shed light on racial disparities in Los Angeles, Price explained ahead of the vote on the program. BIG: LEAP is aimed at helping people most in need.
“Poverty affects two out of every 10 residents in the City of Los Angeles — most of them people of color,” the website for the program says. “Thirty-one percent are children. One-third of working adults in Los Angeles aren’t able to support their families with full-time work alone.”
The 10-day application window opens Friday, Oct. 29 at 8 a.m. and runs until Sunday, Nov. 7 at 11:59 p.m.
Neighborhood hubs will also be set up to help anyone interested in applying.
“The goal of these hubs is to avoid the confusion, frustration and chaos that we’ve seen during other life-changing moments during the pandemic, such as with the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine,” Price said Tuesday.
More details on how the program will work and the application are available at the City’s website for BIG:LEAP, bigleap.lacity.org.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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