Cash assistance for individuals and families in need can help to ensure everyone has equitable access to economic security, mobility and opportunities.  

Research suggests increased cash assistance provided to mothers can positively impact the health of their infants, with increased brain activity.  

According to the recently released study from Columbia University, brain measurements at age 1 showed faster activity in key brain regions in infants whose families received $300-plus monthly cash assistance for a year, compared with those who received $20 each month. 

“It makes sense that if you increase the access to resources that positively impact an individual’s health and wellbeing, it can’t but help to improve the health and wellbeing of their children. There’s a multitude of things that cash can provide an individual or a family with that they might not have otherwise been able to access because they don’t have the resources,” Virginia Romano, CEO of the Vera and Joseph Dresner Foundation told CMF. 

Prior to the pandemic, the Dresner Foundation supported organizations that provided flexible cash assistance, although it was not necessarily labeled as such. Romano shared that the crisis amplified the effectiveness of these types of programs.  

“Over the past two years, we’ve asked organizations ‘what are your greatest needs and how can we help fill gaps?’ A lot of the organizations said that the families and individuals whom they serve needed help paying for certain needs,” Romano said.  

The Dresner Foundation’s support of cash assistance was highlighted in a session designed by the Office of Foundation Liaison (OFL) as part of OFL-hosted safety net conversations, during CMF’s 49th Annual Conference in 2021. The session featured several individuals who received cash assistance and they shared the positive impacts it had on their lives.  

“Listening to individuals’ stories and hearing the obstacles they had to overcome, it’s clear that one thing, like a utility bill or a car repair, can be a major setback. If we can help take care of that one thing, it keeps people on track. We need to help families where they’re at and sometimes they just need support to pay a bill,” Romano said. 

Romano shared that they look to their nonprofit partners who are working on the ground in the community to address the needs they have identified. For example, the Dresner Foundation provided support to a local nonprofit to help community members pay for their water bills during the pandemic.  

Romano shared that there’s various models for philanthropy to approach this work.   

Throughout the pandemic we have seen Michigan philanthropy and foundations around the country leverage direct cash assistance to provide the flexible support that children and families need during unpredictable times.  

The La Lucha Fund, held at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, was a short-term, emergency COVID response fund, that provided more than $750,000 in direct cash assistance to 1,200 families who did not have documentation or had mixed immigration status in Kent County. 

The Families and Workers Fund, which was supported by several grantmaking partners including CMF members Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, helped to get cash relief to 215,000 vulnerable individuals and families. The fund was launched during the early stages of the pandemic and supported individuals who were struggling to pay for basic needs like rent, groceries and medication.  

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