Denver gave people without housing $12,000. Here's what happened a year later

The Denver Basic Income Project gave over 800 unhoused Coloradans up to $12,000 over the past year with no strings attached. 12 months later, with a funding proposal up for renewal, CNN’s Meena Duerson examines the pilot’s impact and what may happen to the participants if funding runs out. #CNN #News

[anastasiagibson]

I am a receiving recipient of the DBIP and I was pregnant and homeless with a one year old in 2021. Now, we have a home, our first car and I am employed. Thank you Denver.

[mesmerising]

Most people in America do not realize they are one paycheck from being homeless

[denisespencer]

They say “money can’t buy you happiness” but you sure as hell can’t live without it! Thank you Sir for this program👏🏾👏🏾

[Tubb]

People don't realize to get a job u need an address and trust me employer know the address of local shelters.

[buhatkj]

12k a year is not enough for any family to live on, but its enough to relieve some short term financial stress that pushes people across the line between working poor, and destitute. With no phone, no childcare, or no transportation, very few jobs are available. These people WANT to work. All this does is give them a leg up so they can get back on the horse. Its a good idea, and we should do it more.

[jbl]

The money wasted on motels or temp housing is many times more expensive than just giving permanent housing i dont understand people against basic help for all

[chinookvalley]

I was homeless. Not because of drugs or alcohol, but because of a car wreck that left me disabled. A judge's daughter got away without even a ticket because she was driving drugged w/out a license, hit and totaled my car, and me. IF THEY HAD BEEN HELD RESPONSIBLE for my injuries I would have gotten a life-time settlement, but as it ended up I rely on the government to take care of me. What I have found is that MOST homeless people have been victims of the rich.

[scarecrow]

If you lift people up and help them, you'll generally see positive results.

[wizrad]

$12, 000 would be life changing for just about anyone I know, let alone the homeless. My wife is a nurse and I'm a stay-home father to a 2 year old (couldn't find employment that would pay more than child-care would end up costing, so I quit), and even half that ($500/month) would make our lives comfortable. At times we are living paycheck to paycheck, and other times we're playing catch-up on credit cards. I've long since given up paying off college loans (you'd think a degree would pay for itself, but that's not always the case). $500/month would basically be the wiggle room for life's many speed bumps. Need new tires? That'd cover it. The washing machine or lawn broke down? Get a new one. Someone needs to go to the hospital? Just take them, the $500 might not cover it, but with a little bit of leftover last month and little bit of next month's $500, it should be covered (and that's after insurance, because health insurance in America is a joke). Right now, if anything out of the ordinary happens, like needing new tires or a mower, we have to start seriously reconsidering where that money comes from. And a lot of the time it just doesn't happen. My wife's car needs new tires, my old car's tires are probably about to force the issue, but we can't afford them. My mower quit working, best we can do is just have my dad look at it and hope he can figure out what's wrong, but otherwise probably wait until fall and just use a weed eater to cut all of the grass really slowly one more time. $500/month is bigger than it sounds.

[TheOrange]

As a former homeless person, I’m really glad to see stuff like this. The stigma you have to deal with from everyone is very hard, but we are no different, most of us are way bad break away from homelessness.

[advocacynaccountablity]

"They should get a job and make money." To this, we ask - Is getting a job free? Is maintaining a job free? Transportation costs? Communication costs? Testing or education costs? Childcare costs? If it's free for you, you're privileged, and should see your way out of this conversation, because you're not qualified to have a relevant opinion on it.

[megan]

My god, I can't imagine having a diagnosis as serious as cancer, and being homeless. Jesus, that's a hard hand to deal with.

[phaedrussmith]

Contrary to the popular notion, all those "Help Wanted" signs you see out there are not the solution to homelessness, they are the cause of it. Low pay with minimal hours don't pay for food, shelter, clothing, transportation and healthcare.

[opineno]

As a psychologist, what surprised me the most was how similar the results were in Group C ($50 a month). A cynic might claim that it almost suggests we should give $600 a year instead of $12, 000, given that the extra $11, 400 only provide a 2-5% increase in effectiveness. To me, it suggests there's a motivational variable at play here, beyond the purely economic ones.

[simonsuarez]

For people giving hate in the comments, 1. I live in Denver and I love seeing my community thrive. 2. I have actually made 12k a year - when I was a full-time student and a part time waiter. I was closer to being homeless than I was to being a millionaire. (most of us are, so have some compassion). Times are hard for everyone and everybody needs a little help from time to time. 12k a year is a drop in a bucket.

[youangel]

99% a people don't want to be homeless.

You know how difficult it is to get a job when you're homeless it's nearly impossible.

This can happen to anyone.

It happened to me. The hardest 2 months of my life.

°~▪︎.☆.•~°

Nobody likes those conditions and nobody likes the shame.

[hppavilionf]

An ambulance trip is only $69? I think they forgot at least one zero at the end of that figure.

[JJ-klyj]

Can't find a job? People say to move to where the jobs are. But you need a car and gas for it. To get an apartment you must have first and last month's rent plus deposits that can be hefty, plus evidence of a steady income. Why are rents so high? Ask Arizona. Organized price fixing that demands apartments sit empty when people can't afford the fixed price has had a terrible impact, on top of shortage of new construction that began with the 2008 Great Recession.

[Phetroc]

Could get everyone off the streets if they stopped throwing all that money on these wars..

[Ivar-V]

Haha dude’s grammar was great. Normality vs normalcy. Who would have thought if someone needs something like food, shelter, and belonging they’d do better. Don’t let the minority of ppl who game the system destroy human decency.