Chicago to open applications for monthly $500 payments to thousands of low-income families

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) announced on Wednesday that the city would begin accepting applications from low-income families affected by COVID-19 to apply for monthly $500 payments. 

The payments will go to 5,000 low-income households each month for a year as part of a program known as the Chicago Resilient Communities Pilot, the mayor’s announcement said.

Applications for the program will open on April 25 and remain available until May 13. 

“The Chicago Resilient Communities pilot is a way for us to efficiently support the communities and households that were hardest hit by the pandemic with dignity as well as build on our work to eradicate poverty,” Lightfoot said in a statement.

The program, which is one of the largest monthly cash assistance programs in the county, will consider applicants in households at or below 250 percent of the federal poverty level. Eligible applicants will be put into a lottery that prioritizes people in poverty and people with pre-existing financial hardships. 

The idea of a universal basic income program garnered national attention during Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s failed 2020 bid. Part of Yang’s campaign was the idea of giving all U.S. adults $1,000 monthly payments. 

Though Yang’s presidential efforts failed, there has since been talk in parts of the country surrounding basic income programs. 

Los Angeles County accepted applications earlier this month for a program known as “Breathe” that provides 1,000 eligible randomly selected people $1,000 in monthly payments for three years. 

Detroit has also looked to create a two-year pilot program to provide $500 in monthly payments to 125 families at or below the poverty level, according to 7 Action News, a local ABC affiliate.