NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell today announced that the City has secured $500,000 in funding from Mayors for a Guaranteed Income to support the most vulnerable residents who are struggling to pay their bills. 

“As Mayors, we see the impact of this pandemic on our people every day. Many urgently require help with basic needs. Job losses and school closures mean people now have many expenses they didn’t have before. Roughly 44,000 are unemployed in New Orleans due to the pandemic,” said Mayor Cantrell. “Nothing helps a struggling family like money in the pocket, and nowhere is that more apparent than among Black Americans — who are more likely to be unemployed but less likely to get unemployment benefits. We need rapid and responsive solutions now; this is the time to invest directly in our people.” 

According to the Mayor’s office, the funds are part of the second grant of $15 million from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey through his #startsmall initiative. This builds on Dorsey’s initial donation of $3 million in July 2020. These new funds are already being allocated to launch or expand guaranteed income pilots in U.S. cities including New Orleans.

Mayor Cantrell contrasted the idea of giving the most vulnerable residents cash payments with the nearly $77,000 spent to house adult inmates in jails. In fact, Louisiana spends more than $175 per resident each year on prisons and incarceration.  

Currently in New Orleans, Rooted School and 4.0 Schools have rolled out a pilot program to provide a weekly cash stipend to 10 students in their founding class, starting with $50 a week.