STORIES FROM ARISE

February 21, 2024: Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity (ARISE) is the City of Alexandria’s guaranteed income pilot study, which began in February 2023. ARISE provides a $500.00 monthly payment to 170 randomly selected participants for 24 months with “no strings attached,” giving participants freedom to choose how to spend the money. Learn more about ARISE and find the answers to frequently asked questions.

ARISE Participant Interview: Michael 

Back in August 2023, Connect readers were introduced to Michael*, an ARISE participant interviewed at the six-month mark of receiving payments. Eager to hear the latest in Michael’s evolving story, we reconnected with him at the one-year anniversary of ARISE.  

The last time we checked with him, Michael beamed with excitement for the future, crediting much of it to the ARISE program.  

To Michael and his children’s relief, the family was reunited when his wife, Ruth, arrived from Ethiopia after the immigration process finalized. During the period between Michael receiving ARISE payments and Ruth arriving, he was able to transition to a lighter workload by reducing his night shift hours. This afforded him quality time with his two children, who had just arrived from Ethiopia. The seven-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, had been in Ethiopia most of their lives, which meant that he was essentially getting to know his children when they moved to the US.  

Since their home is now a two-parent household, the load has been more manageable for Michael. Ruth and Michael are raising children and managing the household together. He and the twins were living in a one-bedroom apartment, and now, the family of four has moved to a bigger place. This delighted the family, not only because of the extra living space, but also for the access to parks, playgrounds, and other amenities. But a larger home led to a gap in the family budget that didn’t exist six months ago, so Michael has begun working overtime again. This added income, in addition to the ARISE payment, has helped Michael sustain his responsibilities. He puts it simply: “$500 a month is big money for me.” 

While Michael is back to working two jobs, he doesn’t plan to continue this arrangement long-term. Ruth is currently job-hunting, which will relieve Michael from his grueling schedule. She also plans to take advantage of the City’s Workforce Development programs, and the family is looking into the various homebuyer resources available to Alexandrians.  

In our last check-in, he was considering alternate careers to his retail stocking job. He has since learned more about a management training program at his workplace. This has piqued his interest, as his managers have been supportive of his participation in the program and have recognized his potential.  

Michael continues to spend quality time with the twins whenever he can. He helps with homework, goes on long walks, plays outside, and has heartfelt conversations with them, whereas before they were more “closed off” as they adjusted to living in a new country while their dad worked day and night. Michael is grateful for the positive changes he’s seeing in his family. He understands that there will always be challenges, saying, “Rising food and housing prices make it hard to live in this area, but we make it work.” Michael readily expressed his appreciation for ARISE and acknowledged the positive impact it makes for his family. 

His positive outlook continues to shine through, which leaves us looking forward to our next check-in.  

ARISE Participant Interview: Alma

This month, we also caught up with Alma*, whose story we also introduced in August 2023. Alma is another participant from Alexandria’s first ARISE cohort, which began in February 2023. Some big changes have happened in Alma’s life since we checked in with her at the six-month mark last summer. We learn in that conversation how appreciative she is to have been randomly selected for the program and how timely it was in the midst of hardship. This time, we were eager to hear how she’s been handling her living situation, which involved managing the care of her sick mother, a son with special needs, and teen daughter. She shouldered a heavy load despite her own health concerns and the challenges of underemployment.  

Alma said at the time that the ARISE program eased the burden slightly, allowing her to chip away at her bills instead of choosing which bill to pay and which to delay. It also allowed her to make do with working part-time, as her caretaking schedule did not allow for a full-time work schedule. 

Now, six months later, how does the $500 monthly payment come into play? Is Alma seeing a more sustainable difference in her budget?  

Alma, who had disliked her neighborhood, moved to a new place in Alexandria. She had concerns about health and safety in the old neighborhood, but the last straw was a leak that caused mold to grow to a toxic level and a putrid odor in her apartment, for which she said the property management did not take adequate action. Alma felt forced to break her lease and leave as soon as possible, thereby incurring $1300 in fees. The new neighborhood still raises concerns about safety, but Alma is grateful to provide a mold-free environment for her family. The ARISE payments made this possible. 

The other big change in Alma’s life is a positive one that further lifted some weight off her shoulders. As a caregiver to her mother, Alma was approved for a Medicaid program that provides financial assistance to individuals who take care of sick family members. This required Personal Care Aide (PCA) training, which she was able to complete.  

Now Alma can give her mother and children more of her time without sacrificing the modest income she was making at her part-time job. This was “a blessing” for her, especially since her mother’s illness was worsening and required more of Alma’s attention. Fortunately, Alma’s personal health challenge, a hernia, has improved, and her son showsed good progress in speech therapy.  

By October 2023, Alma had received her first caretaking payment. To her amazement, Alma’s access to the Medicaid program could not have been more timely. She experienced a disturbing incident at work involving armed robbery. She felt her best move after that would be to leave that job.  

"October was tough. Sometimes people act like I could have handled things better, but they weren't there. They don't know how scary it was,” she says. She also says she felt “damaged” from the experience, but the silver living was for the Medicaid program to coincide with the end of her employment there. 

Alma continues to find joy as a mother to her children, who make her proud. She recognizes her strength in the face of the recent hardships and also recognizes how ARISE helped support her family’s financial stability. She ends with, “I appreciate it very much what you guys did. It's just a blessing.” 

*The names have been changed to protect the participants' identity.