By Michael Tubbs and Libby Schaaf, The Imprint, August 16, 2021
Lorrine Paradela is a single mom raising two kids on a tight budget who knows what it’s like to stay up at night worrying about how to pay the bills. She is not alone, particularly since the pandemic, which has put an even heavier economic burden on women of color.
What sets her apart is that she had an economic lifeline during the height of the pandemic — an extra $500 a month on top of the income from her job.
As a participant in Stockton’s guaranteed income pilot project, Paradela received the monthly cash for two years, using it as she saw fit for her family. That meant being able to replace her car when it was totaled in an accident without having to miss work for lack of transportation. It meant being able to thank her teenage son for watching his little sister by depositing $20 in his account to put toward a new video game. It meant sleeping through the night without stressing about how to cover the month’s bills for the first time in years.
Comments (0)