In Her Hands guaranteed-income initiative will enroll 270 additional Atlanta women

In Her Hands – an innovative guaranteed income program that pays low-income women about $1,000 a month in cash to bolster their financial stability – will enroll an additional 270 participants, thanks to $14.5 million in new grant funding from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and other donors. 

The In Her Hands initiative is a joint project for Atlanta non-profits The Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund (GRO Fund) and Give Directly. 

 They launched In Her Hands in fall 2022 for over 650 participants, who receive monthly cash payments of $700 to $850 for two years. The participants decide how best to use the money, whether it’s to build a rainy day fund, invest in education for a better job, cover childcare, buy groceries or pay rent. 

Participants for phase two will receive $36,000 over the next three years, making it one of the largest direct cash pilot programs in the country.

Just as the program’s first phase was neighborhood-specific, focusing on Black women in the Old Fourth Ward, College Park and rural Clay-Randolph-Terrell Counties, the expansion will bring In Her Hands to low-income women in Atlanta’s Bankhead, Washington Park, English Avenue, and Vine City neighborhoods.

Tamicka Royal, an Old Fourth Ward resident participating in phase one of In Her Hands, told Atlanta Civic Circle that the initiative is “like a silent partner” that helped her make ends meet when she was out of work from an injury. Royal, now a flight attendant for an American Airlines subsidiary, used the guaranteed income to get by after she was evicted from her apartment and train for her new job. 

For the program’s second phase, almost half of the women residing in English Avenue and Vine City, both majority-Black neighborhoods, are living in poverty, said GRO Fund’s executive director, Hope Wollensack, in a Wednesday announcement. 

Despite the recent economic development in these neighborhoods, “these gains are rarely shared among low-income residents,” Wollensack said. “In Her Hands brings to life a model for not only flexible and dignified support but an economy where all of us – regardless of where we come from – can thrive.’

Participants in the guaranteed income program’s second phase can choose between two payment structures, each totaling $36,000. Option 1 is to receive $1000 per month for three years. Option 2 is to receive $800 per month for three years, with the balance paid in a lump sum to participants at a time of their choosing. 

How to apply for In Her Hands:

To be eligible for the second phase of In Her Hands, you must be at least 18, live in the English Avenue, Bankhead, Vine City, or Washington Park neighborhoods, identify as a woman, and make no more than two times the federal poverty level. Currently, that is about $30,000 for individuals and $51,000 for a family of three.

Applications will be accepted from May 15 through May 31. You can sign up for an alert when applications go live at www.thegrofund.org/apply.

Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be randomly selected through a lottery. If you’d like to apply in person, you can meet the In Her Hands staff at Westside Works, located at 261 Joseph E. Lowery Blvd NW at the following dates and times:

• Wednesday, May 22 from 1-5 p.m.
• Saturday, May 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 29, from 3-7 p.m.