Two months after it was announced Fresno is participating in its first-ever Guaranteed Basic Income program, the Center for Community Voices at Fresno State will host a premiere screening of the documentary, “It’s Basic.”

Directed by award-winning director Marc Levin and executive produced by Michael Tubbs, the former mayor of Stockton who championed basic income, the documentary showcases U.S. families who have participated in pilot programs. The screening,  with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and Counties for a Guaranteed Income, will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Maya Cinemas

The event is free and open to the public. Attendees must RSVP. 

Guaranteed Basic Income is the concept of no-strings-attached payments to provide people with a financial floor.

The local, philanthropically-funded pilot program was announced in July. It is managed by the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission and will be evaluated by Fresno State faculty from the new Center for Community Voices in the College of Social Sciences.

The program has been a long time coming, and has roots at Fresno State. 

In 2021, Fresno State faculty Dr. Amber Crowell and Andy Levine received funding from the President’s Circle of Excellence to conduct a demonstration project focused on understanding the need for guaranteed basic income. 

A demonstration project is like an experiment that tests the feasibility or viability of a project – a proof of concept. 

The demonstration project allowed for the creation of the Center for Community Voices. The center enables researchers to study the impact of programs like Guaranteed Basic Income and give policymakers evidence on whether or not it improves lives and communities.

During the demonstration project, Crowell and Levine organized a series of listening sessions in different neighborhoods to better gauge what the community thought about this type of program, and if this was something the community felt it needed.

“It all started with us going out and talking to folks across the community to see if this is something they thought would change their lives,” Crowell said.

What they learned from that demonstration project inspired them to pursue research on the impact of such programs in Fresno County. 

“What we saw is that this is something that could make a difference,” Crowell said. 

After understanding how the program could help families in the Central Valley, the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission applied for funding from the state’s Guaranteed Basic Income pilot program as part of a $35 million pilot sponsored by the state of California through the California Department of Social Services.

If the application was accepted, the program would have been managed by the Fresno EOC and evaluated by the Center for Community Voices. All funding would have come from the state with matched funding provided by EOC.

However, the application was denied.

Crowell, Levine and members of the Fresno EOC were disappointed their proposal was not funded, given that the Central Valley has one of the highest rates of poverty in the country. But they were determined to take a negative and turn it into a positive. 

“We decided we’d do it without the state funding,” Crowell said.

Funding the Central Valley program

Determined, Levine and members from Fresno EOC decided to seek philanthropic funders to create their own Guaranteed Basic Income program. In pitching the program to philanthropic organizations, they stressed how the program would be evaluated and data-informed.

“A big part of the buy-in with the funders was the evaluation,” Crowell said.

Crowell explained for this program to truly work there needed to be a way to measure its impact.

Through the collaborative funding efforts of the The California Wellness Foundation, which is providing half of the project’s funding, and seven additional funders (The California Endowment, Central Valley Community Foundation, Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, Sierra Health Foundation, and Mayors for a Guaranteed Income), a total of over $1 million was raised to start the program.

Fresno EOC provides the financial and administrative support, and the research and evaluation is done by faculty (Crowell and Dr. Matthew Jendian, sociology) and students from the Center for Community Voices.

The pilot program is funded for one year, providing support for 150 families. 

Although the program is small, it has the ability to create an impact – both for these families and for how we think about poverty. 

“This research can transform the way Fresno addresses poverty,” Crowell said. 

But the research isn’t just about numbers and measuring quality of life. At the center of the work being done are the people in the community. The input from the members participating will inform how the program evolves. The Center for Community Voices will be collecting stories and qualitative data in addition to quantitative data. 

The center will develop a storytelling cohort to show the experiences of families participating, with support from the James B. McClatchy Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation. 

Their stories will give a holistic perspective on the experience of poverty in Fresno and how a GBI program has helped them. 

150 families receive funding

After three years of fundraising, families received their first payments of $500 monthly in July.  

“This is a very small program, which makes the evaluation very important – 150 families will be directly impacted through receiving the money, but there are an estimated 21,000 families with children under 5 who are living below the poverty line in Fresno County,” Crowell said. “What those thousands of other families can expect to get out of this program comes from the evaluation, which will demonstrate the impact a program like this could have on family well-being and social and economic inclusion.”

To celebrate the first check distributions a press conference was held. Speaking at the press conference were two of the families participating, members of Fresno EOC, funders, community leaders, and Crowell representing the Center for Community Voices.

“I felt extremely blessed to have been selected because I knew from the very get-go that this would be a tremendous help for me,” said Nancy Ramirez, a recipient from Huron. “This is really a big blessing for me. Things are, you know, groceries are expensive. There’s less work, so this is definitely a big blessing for me and my family.”

To learn more about the Center for Community Voices its and its research check out the Center for Community Voices web page.  To get updates and stay involved, submit contact information. For questions, comments, and connections, email alevine@csufresno.edu or acrowell@csufresno.edu.