TACOMA, Wash. — On Tuesday, the results of Tacoma's Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, known as Growing Resilience in Tacoma (GRIT), were made public. They revealed a profound impact on participating families.
The program, launched in December 2021, provided 110 families with $500 monthly payments for one year, with no strings attached. These families were selected based on their financial circumstances, with many falling into a category referred to as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). They earn too much to qualify for traditional assistance but still struggle financially.
Debbie Wilkerson, one of the program's recipients, shared her family's transformative experience.
"To me, it's not a handout but rather a help up," Wilkerson said. "What we did with that money was pay all the debts that we had. Built our credit back up. We're actually going to be buying my mom's home within the next year."
"Debbie stood in front of me today and said that would not have been possible without GRIT," Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards said.
Woodards, along with Dona Ponepinto, the president and CEO of United Way of Pierce County, celebrated the success of the program. According to both leaders, the data confirms that cash assistance programs like GRIT have a tangible, positive impact on families.
"We keep doing the research, we keep doing the studies to show these kinds of cash assistance programs work," Ponepinto said. "We can talk about the moral imperative of all of this. The right thing to do, to put cash in people's hand but it's also an economic imperative. $6,000 these individuals received goes back into the community."
The data showed the following:
The percentage of recipients who kept full-time work increased: 57% to start, up to 66% six months after the payments stopped.
50 percent of recipients moved into higher-quality homes and 26% relocated to more desirable neighborhoods.
"That impact doesn't just happen on the parent. It's an impact that happens on the children and this is the way we change generational poverty by giving the tools to empower themselves and their entire family," Woodards said.
Wilkerson said she now has peace of mind; her grandson will have a place to call home, thanks to GRIT.
“With my grandson being on the autism spectrum, we wanted him to have a forever home,” she said. “A home we can buy down the road because we don't want him to go into institutions."
The success of the GRIT led to the launch of GRIT 2.0, which began in March of this year. This expanded program is now helping 175 families in Tacoma and Pierce County. GRIT 2.0 is a $1.9 million dollar investment from the state, and is a collaboration between United Way, the City of Tacoma, Pierce County, and the State Department of Social and Health Services.