The National Council And The F4GI Announce Guaranteed Income Program To Support Currently And Formerly Incarcerated Women

The Fund for Guaranteed Income (F4GI) announces that it will be the implementation partner for the Community Love Fund, a landmark guaranteed income initiative rolled out by The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls (The National Council) and Families for Justice as Healing. The National Council-led program supports seventeen formerly incarcerated and four currently incarcerated women with $500 per month for one year.

The National Council was founded in 2010 by a group of women incarcerated in federal prison in Danbury, CT. Many of them mothers, the organization works to end the criminal legal system’s forced separation of women and girls from their communities and loved ones through hyper-local organizing, public awareness education, movement lawyering, and the national #FreeHer Campaign. The National Council also organizes against the incarceration of women globally through its International Network.

It’ll be the first program to deliver recurring cash relief to women currently incarcerated in state and federal prisons

“Basic income guarantee is a key component of reimagining communities and is a tool to continue building a network of support to help our sisters thrive inside and outside of prisons.” said Andrea C. James, Founder and Executive Director of The National Council.

The Community Love Fund will materially support women harmed by the criminal legal system. It will be the first- ever guaranteed income program to deliver recurring cash relief to women currently incarcerated in state and federal prisons. The program reconfigures the meaning of public safety by developing neighborhood-led systems of individual and collective accountability outside of the carceral state.

“The National Council’s Guaranteed Income program is such a blessing and a reminder that I am never alone,” said a program participant.

As The National Council’s implementation partner, F4GI customized its proprietary payments and public benefits platform, and built features to serve women currently incarcerated in federal and state prisons. It will support the Community Love Fund by distributing payments to participants, resolving payment errors, and conducting day-to-day operations. It will also facilitate customer service and collaborate with The National Council to uplift the Community Love Fund as a future-oriented model creating the tools necessary for women to thrive after incarceration. 

“Policing and human caging are not our only options for responding to harm. The Community Love Fund demonstrates that GI is a practice of transformative justice. It’s an honor to support the blazing leadership of the National Council,” said Nika Soon-Shiong, Founder and ED of F4GI. 

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