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Compton Mayor Aja Brown Offering 800 Low-Income Residents Two Years Of Guaranteed Income

#Roommates, as many throughout the country are still struggling financially due to the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Compton Mayor Aja Brown is helping out the residents in her city in a major way. Mayor Brown recently announced that she is offering hundreds of low-income residents in her city two years of income.

@theGrio reports, Aja Brown, who happens to be the youngest mayor in the history of the City of Compton, has just launched a remarkable new initiative called the Compton Pledge—which will provide guaranteed income in the form of recurring cash relief to 800 low-income residents for the next two years. Underneath the Compton Pledge, the emphasis centers on “guaranteed income as a means of pushing towards economic and racial justice on the pathway to reparations.”

The funds from the Compton Pledge will be given to the 800 residents later this year. Residents will be randomly chosen from a pre-verified group of low-income people and only one member per household will be eligible. It’s also important to note that the exact amount of money that residents will receive will vary. Although, it been stated that each participant will receive “at least several hundred dollars, with greater amounts received by parents with multiple children.”

More than one in five Compton residents currently live in poverty—this staggering number happens to be double the national average. Housing assistance in the city is also at capacity, creating an economic hardship in a high-cost housing market. Compton is the second city in California to enact a guaranteed income. Previously, Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs launched the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration in February 2019, a program that gave 125 residents $500 a month for 18 months. In May, its funding was extended for another six months.

As for where the money for the Compton Pledge is coming from, funds are being raised by private donors. According to additional reports, one of the partners for the program is the Fund for Guaranteed Income, which is headed by Nika Soon-Shiong, the daughter of the “Los Angeles Times” owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong.

 

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Danielle Jennings