How one universal basic income experiment is helping the homeless

More than six years ago, Kevin F. Adler walked the streets of his San Francisco neighborhood with an unusual purpose: He wanted to get to know its homeless residents.

During that time, he met a man named Jeffrey, who had been a missing person for 12 years.

After posting on social media, Adler was able to reconnect Jeffrey with his family, who had not seen him in more than 20 years.

“I started having conversations with folks on the streets, and over and over again, I heard people say, ‘I never realized I was homeless when I lost my housing, only when I lost my family and friends,'” Adler said.

The experience inspired Adler, whose own uncle was homeless for 30 years, to create a program called Miracle Messages to help reunite other unhoused individuals with their loved ones.

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Today, the program has reunited about 500 families across the U.S., according to Adler.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Miracle Messages expanded its programs to take its help even further. It started matching unhoused individuals with members of the community to help build relationships.

Then, it raised money to pilot a universal basic income project for the homeless.

Universal basic income has become a buzz term, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang made the concept popular when he pledged to give Americans $1,000 per month with no strings attached.

Now, UBI experiments are popping up in cities across the U.S. Moreover, federal programs tied to Covid-19 like stimulus checks and monthly child tax credit payments have been compared to guaranteed income.

This new program, dubbed Miracle Money, is the first of its kind to target the homeless in the U.S. One program in Vancouver, Canada, called the New Leaf Project has also tested the concept.

Miracle Money began fundraising in December 2020, and ultimately raised around $50,000 through individual donors.

Then, in February, the program began distributing payments of $500 per month to 14 unhoused individuals in the local area.

The participants were selected from nominations within the community.

The program was designed so that the $500 monthly income would not interfere with other government benefits the participants may receive.

All of the participants had to set up bank accounts in order to receive the money. They also were paired with a “buddy” from the community, with whom they would keep in touch. Financial…