Brookline's $750-a-Month Guaranteed Income Pilot Ends with Lessons for Housing Agencies
UpTogether Brookline, a year-long guaranteed income pilot, has ended after delivering $750 a month for twelve months to 53 residents of Brookline's Section 8 and public housing programs. Participants marked the close at a "Together We Rise" event Thursday, Brookline.News reported. The pilot was run by the Brookline Community Foundation, the Brookline Housing Authority and the national nonprofit UpTogether, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act plus a foundation grant. The cash was embedded in the housing authority's Self Sufficiency Program, pairing payments with coaching and asset building. Participants used the money for practical investments: a knitting machine for a small business, children's dance classes, savings toward a home. One mother called the payments life-changing early in the pilot. Housing agencies nationwide are watching because the pilot tests whether housing authorities can deliver unrestricted cash without tripping rent-calculation rules, using a funding model that does not depend on Washington now that ARPA money is largely spent. The open question is year two: whether local philanthropy, the town or the state continues what the pilot started, and what the program's formal evaluation shows about cash layered on top of vouchers.