Guaranteed Income Pilot Brought Ease to Alexandrians Living in Poverty

October 28, 2026 – It could be a neighbor. A coworker. A friend. 

With nearly one in three households across the city struggling to cover essentials like rent, groceries, transportation, and healthcare, chances are you probably know someone who is barely scraping by.

For these families, an extra $500 a month can make all the difference. 

For Catherine, a young, single mom, it meant not thinking twice when her growing boys asked for seconds. For Daisy, it meant focusing on recovery from the emergency hysterectomy she needed while traveling out of state, instead of worrying about the high out-of-network fees. And for Ian, who regularly worked 80 hours a week between his full-time job and additional gig work, it meant working less so he could make it home in time for school pick-up and be around to help his twins with homework in the evenings.

These are just some of the ways a $500 unconditional monthly payment brought ease to the day-to-day lives of 170 Alexandrians living in poverty who participated in the City of Alexandria’s Alexandria Recurring Income for Success and Equity (ARISE) pilot program, according to a new report recapping the program. 

The ARISE program, which ran for nearly two and a half years from February 2023 through June 2025, was part of a wave of guaranteed income (GI) programs that took off across the country in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Largely funded by the American Rescue Plan Act – the historic legislation that provided $3 billion in funding to help Americans recover from the COVID-19 pandemic  – GI programs like ARISE popped up in cities including Richmond, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Newark, New Jersey. 

The programs varied in terms of their duration, monthly payment amount, and eligibility criteria but all shared a common goal: to alleviate the economic strain of the pandemic on the most vulnerable by establishing an income floor below which no one could fall. 

Over 4,000 Alexandrians applied to receive the $500 unconditional monthly payments and 170 were randomly selected to participate. Many of them were women of color with young, school-aged children, who were often supporting multiple people on an average annual income of about $25,000 – just a fraction of the city’s $113,179 median household income. 

The extra income allowed participants to buy higher quality, healthier foods to feed their families, catch up on overdue rent and utility bills, pay off high-interest debts, and plan birthday celebrations and other fun outings for their children. 

But the payments also gave participants things that are impossible to put a price tag on: quality time spent with loved ones, hope for a brighter future, and room to breathe. 

Though it’s been over a year since the ARISE pilot sent out its final payments, the energy and momentum the program has created continues to shape how the City supports Alexandrians striving for financial stability.

It led the Department of Community and Human Services, in partnership with ACT for Alexandria, ALIVE!, and Neighborhood Health to launch the Economic Mobility Coalition – a space for community partners and stakeholders to come together to design systems and policies that expand economic opportunity in the city.

The City will also be launching a new office dedicated to helping Alexandrians build financial stability, with support from Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. The Office, which will be named with community input, will streamline the City’s economic mobility initiatives and explore new ways to ensure our local economy works for everyone. 

Learn more about the key takeaways from the ARISE pilot, and recommendations for future GI initiatives by checking out the ARISE final report and webinar, and past profiles of ARISE participants Adam, Michael, and Cindy.

To learn more about the City’s economic mobility initiatives, please contact Economic Mobility Officer Julie Mullen, julie.mullen@alexandriava.gov.