Nonprofit Hands Out $1,000 to Low-Income Families

The nonprofit GiveDirectly is donating $1,000 directly to families identified as being in need, Yahoo News reported on Tuesday.

The funds are raised through donations or large-scale grants and are given with no strings attached.

GiveDirectly’s initiative, called Project 100, seeks to raise and then distribute $100 million to 100,000 low-income families most in need during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Newsweek.

In order to carry out Project 100, GiveDirectly has partnered with the charity Stand for Children and Propel software company, which manages the Fresh EBT app that helps people receiving food assistance via SNAP to manage their benefits.

The money given to each family is in addition to the government's stimulus checks worth up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child to help people cope with the crisis.

Propel CEO Jimmy Chen explained to Marketplace that he got involved in the project, because the “situation is pretty dire for a lot of low-income Americans.”

He stressed that the idea of the program is meant to be simple and straightforward by  providing those in need with cash.

Although he acknowledged “it is not a long-term solution… [or] a systemic fix,” it is a way to “help people navigate through the impossible choices” of the current situation.

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