The Yellow Springs Community Foundation crew in front of their Walnut Street office in 2024. From left: Project Manager Chloe Manor, Operations Director Brianna Ayers, Outreach Manager Melissa Heston, Financial Administrator Sara Miller Gray and Executive Director Jeannamarie Cox. The two pups are Lilly and Oakley. Not pictured is Donor Relations Manager Mychael Roberts. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Guaranteed income program seeks applicants before May 15
- Published: May 14, 2026
For the last three years, the Yellow Springs Community Foundation has been giving away free money — in a sense — and there’s more available now.
Since the foundation established YSEQUITY, one of Ohio’s only guaranteed income programs, it has paid $402,000 of unrestricted cash to 70 Miami Township and Yellow Springs residents struggling to make ends meet.
Since its creation in 2023, that total has been divided up between 15 individuals semiannually — $300 in cash payments over a period of 24 months, or $7,200 per individual. This is no-strings-attached money, or dollars that can be used for rent, food, childcare or anything else that makes life a little bit easier.
The latest window to apply for this guaranteed income opened May 1 and will close Friday, May 15. Those interested can check their eligibility for the program at http://www.ysequity.com
Eligibility is determined by a threshold of household income. For example, a household of one is eligible for the $300 per month if they make $40,770 or less per year. A household of five qualifies if they make less than $97,410.
Applicants must be residents of Yellow Springs or Miami Township, and must be 18 or older.
According to local resident and the foundation’s program manager, Chloe Manor, the guaranteed-income program has been a success.
“Cash is helping people pay bills, support their families and put food on the table in Yellow Springs,” Manor wrote to the News via email earlier this week.
To substantiate those findings, the YS Community Foundation will hear back from its research partners at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Guaranteed Income Research this summer, when the university will publish its findings from YSEQUITY’s initial 30 participants.
Manor said that CGIR’s findings will likely be consistent with what studies from across the country have already shown:
“That unconditional cash programs are helping people in the short term,” Manor said.
She also acknowledged there being room for growth — particularly in the areas of helping program participants beyond the momentary influx of spendable dollars.
“Many programs, ours included, are looking for ways to make guaranteed income effective long term by partnering cash with savings and investments, financial education and wrap-around services like counseling and community-based programs,” Manor said.
Looking to broader economic forces — statewide gas prices hovering around $5 per gallon, as well as inflation on nearly all consumer goods and services nationwide — Manor stressed that providing for the most economically vulnerable is now more imperative than ever.
“Supporting guaranteed income [programs] is so important right now — both in the context of poverty mitigation work on a national level and especially on a local level,” Manor said. “Redistributing wealth by taking cash out of our own pockets and putting it directly into the pockets of our neighbors is one of the most direct ways we can make an impact on economic equity in our village.”
As she noted, YSEQUITY’s guaranteed-income program is entirely funded by its donors, while the initial start-up costs were supported by Greene County funds via the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA.
Those interested in furthering YSEQUITY’s program are encouraged to donate via http://www.ysequity.org
The Yellow Springs News encourages respectful discussion of this article.
You must login to post a comment.
Don't have a login? Register for a free YSNews.com account.
No comments yet for this article.