In 2019, we embarked on a bold experiment to give 20 low-income, African-American mothers $1,000 of unrestricted, no-strings-attached monthly cash. During that year, women paid off predatory debt, opened savings accounts, and invested in their education and futures.



Today, we are excited to announce the next round of The Magnolia Mother’s Trust in 2020 that will include larger cohort of women and a quasi-experimental model that will provide stronger, comparative data that can inform public policy on best practices for social safety net programs.



As promised, we wanted to share the results of our pilot round with all of you and let you know what we are hoping to discover in the next iteration of the program. The highlights of the evaluation and some details about the next round are below. You can also check out more detailed reports on



Finally, we wanted to once again say thank you. Without your support and partnership, The Magnolia Mother's Trust would still just be a dream. We cannot wait to see what will happen with this larger cohort of women and look forward to sharing the journey with all of you! As promised, we wanted to share the results of our pilot round with all of you and let you know what we are hoping to discover in the next iteration of the program. The highlights of the evaluation and some details about the next round are below. You can also check out more detailed reports on our website The Results of the Pilot Having medicine on hand for a child’s allergies, obtaining all necessary school supplies and uniforms for children, owning a bed , having sufficient funds to pay a monthly energy bill...



These are just a few of the expenses participants in The Magnolia Mother’s Trust reported finally being able to take care of that were not possible with limited voucher programs that provide for some food and housing expenses but little more.

32% to 75% Percentage of participants who were preparing 3 meals per day at home for their families at the start of the program and at the end

37% to 80% Percentage of participants at the start and end of the program who were able to pay all bills without additional support from family, friends, or other agencies

Over $10,000 The collective amount of predatory debt participants were able to pay off throughout the duration of the pilot How Did Participants Report Spending Money? Transportation/Travel

Purchasing a home

Paying bills

Education expenses

Credit improvement “[The Magnolia Mother’s Trust] made me realize that I want to do more. This is not it, there is more out there, and I want to push myself to do more... find a better job and think for myself.” -Tia Cunningham At the end of the pilot... 100% said they have enough money to meet their basic needs

100% reported worrying less because of their met needs

100% saw an increase in positive family engagement

100% feel hopeful about their future in 5 years What is Next? Starting in March of 2020, we will be providing $1,000 of monthly cash for 12 months to at least 75 women . Additionally, we will be opening and seeding a Children’s Savings Account for each child of a participant. Women who are a part of the new cohort will have the opportunity to participate in monthly gatherings focused on building social capital, deepening community, and strengthening leadership skills. Building on the evaluation from the original pilot, we'll be testing how a guaranteed income can alleviate poverty, lessen health disparities, and improve family well-being , as well as, how a guaranteed income offers families dignity and agency with the freedom to define meaningful work for themselves.



In addition, the larger cohort and quasi-experimental model will allow us to produce stronger, comparative data and allow us to study if providing a guaranteed income is a more cost efficient and effective system for distributing benefits than our current social safety net programs. Click below for more information on both the pilot evaluation and what the next round of The Magnolia Mother's Trust is going to look like! Learn More!