COLUMBUS, Ohio — Angelique Scales is one of the first recipients in the Ohio Mothers Trust guaranteed income initiative.

“I'm really grateful. This is one of the things that you hear about, but you never really see any action behind it,” said Scales. 

What You Need To Know

  • Ohio Mothers Trust is the first unconditional guaranteed income initiative in Columbus for single mothers 

  • 32 single mothers will receive $500 a month for the next year

  • This is a collaborative initiative bewteen Rise Together Innovation Insititute, Motherful and Up Together

 A mother of three, she said being a recipient of this initiative is going to create some stability in her life. 

“Stability comes first. Like you have to have a roof over your head over your children's heads and everything that comes in between that. So for starters, just some stability is one thing that I'm very grateful to implement in my household,” said Scales. 

Ohio Mothers Trust is designed to help single mothers get the resources they need to support their families. It’s a collaborative effort between Rise Together Innovation Institute, Up Together and Motherful. CEO of Rise Together Innovation Institute Danielle Sydnor said this initiative stems from their research on poverty in Franklin County. 

“When we think about the resources that we're putting into the hands of moms, we know that we're helping to reduce childhood poverty. If we don't do something about the resources that moms need today, we are just increasing the likelihood of these children ending up in poverty as adults,” said Sydnor. 

Thirty-two single mothers across Franklin County will receive $500 a month over the next year. Eligible participants are single mothers with incomes at or below 80% of the area median. Sydnor says that dollar amount is life changing for some. 

“We found that the $500 amount was what really made a difference in families. The average American is about $400 away from homelessness based on not having enough savings to take care of things like a flat tire or a car repair. And so $500 a month, while it seems very minimal to some people, is absolutely life changing for many folks in our community,” said Sydnor.  

The Motherful organization was in charge of selecting the first 32 women to participate in the initiative. Co-founder of Motherful, Lisa Woodward, was one of the people who shared the news with the participants.

“So a lot of moms screamed. Some cried. Some couldn't believe it. A lot of the moms that are receiving don't have income right now. So it was it was just touching. They shared like what they want to do with the money and everybody's charged up,” said Woodward.

Woodward said this initiative was six years in the making and she’s happy to finally see it come to fruition.