FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A grateful family’s lives have been completely changed.
Ariel and Derek Williams and their young daughter, Aniyah, thanked the Fresno EOC’s Advancing Fresno County Guaranteed Income Program on Tuesday.
“You don’t know how awesome it is to be able to breathe because you don’t have the weight of finance. It’s just beating you down, beating you down, beating you down. And that’s what this program allowed us to do for a year,” Ariel said.
The program was introduced in July 2024 as a one-year initiative that provided $500 per month to 150 low-income families in Southwest Fresno and Huron.
The money was tax-free and funded entirely by private foundations.
“You see families starting to relieve that debt, to seek out new opportunities and to create opportunities for their children that they didn’t get to have before. And I think the case you can make there is that if this program could go on longer, if it could be permanent, you would see those trajectories continue,” said Dr. Amber Crowell, who spearheaded research on the program’s impacts.
Over those 12 months, borrowing fell from 40% to 18% among participating families.
Families fighting food insecurity dropped from 49% to 17%, and those who reported financial stress went from 36% to 24%.
The boost in funds even allowed the Williams family to enjoy the things money can’t buy.
“We’re big on family, and that year allowed us to reconnect with my dad and for him to get closer connected with his in-laws and vice versa. And I was just really important to us,” Ariel said.
But even with success stories like this, Fresno County’s poverty rate remains among the highest in the state.
Which is why the program’s designers now have their sights set on expansion.
“Now we know that this is something that we need to take to our policymakers, our elected officials, go to other funding sources and really make the case. This is something that should not just be a 12-month program, not just for 150 families, but really this is a model that works and needs to be expanded,” said program designer Andy Levine.
The Fresno EOC is now asking anyone to help them in their push to extend the program, calling on local officials and policymakers to learn from these findings.
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