L.A., Chicago giving away cash with no strings attached to residents in need. Are universal basic income programs working?

LOS ANGELES – Life was falling into place for Georgia Horton.

After more than 20 years in prison, she was building a new path forward with a blossoming career in sharing her story: She went from a prison inmate to finding religion and becoming an evangelist. But that all came to a screeching halt as the country shut down with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The happiness of her newfound success was replaced with worries about becoming homeless, joining the tens of thousands in the Los Angeles area who have no roof over their heads.

She credits a guaranteed basic income program that rolled out in Compton, just south of Los Angeles, called the Compton Pledge, with saving her. Each month, Horton receives $300 — money that comes without any stipulations or strings attached on how she can use it. She’s used the funds for bills and purchases like a laptop, which she says allowed her to continue speaking engagements and broadened her reach. She was also able to save and start up Georgia Horton Ministries, a feat she says would have never happened without the money.