Up To $24,000 Per Person To Be Handed Out No-Strings-Attached As Guaranteed Income Program Comes To Three US Counties

A guaranteed income program poised to hand out approximately $38.4 million in cash with no strings attached is set to be unveiled in three US counties.

The nonprofit GiveDirectly says it is launching the Rural Income for Self-Empowerment Guaranteed Minimum Income (RISE GMI) program in Beaufort County, North Carolina; Mercer County, West Virginia and Warren County, Mississippi.

The RISE GMI program aims to empower residents living in rural communities.

“RISE GMI program provides no strings attached cash payments to eligible county residents who are randomly selected to participate. No strings attached payments means you choose how to spend your own money.”

GiveDirectly’s guaranteed income program will run for over a year and aims to benefit approximately 1,600 people or households with the tax-exempt payments.

“We are delivering up to $24,000 over the course of 16 months to families living in poverty. This means that every family will receive $1,500 per month for 16 months to spend on food, business, rent, or whatever they need most.”

To participate in the guaranteed income program, applicants must be residents of one of the three counties and their household income must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.

The application period for Beaufort County runs from November 3rd to November 21st, with the first payment expected to be sent out on January 21st of 2026. For Mercer County, the application process runs from October 14th to October 31st, while Warren County’s application process runs from December 1st to December 19th.

Successful applicants in Mercer County will receive their first payment on December 17th, while in Warren County the first payment will be issued on February 18th of 2026.

GiveDirectly is using a grant from the family of Jeff Atwoods, the co-founder of software development platform Stack Overflow, to fund the guaranteed income program focused on rural communities.

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