Birmingham Celebrates ‘Guaranteed Income’ Program for Single Mothers

By Sym Posey The Birmingham Times When Birmingham’s Korlesha Holt applied for the city’s Embrace Mothers Guaranteed Income Pilot program last year she was disabled, didn’t work and never expected to be one of the single moms to be selected for the program. “When I received the news that I was going to be a part of this, it was like a breath of fresh air,” she said Tuesday during a roundtable discussion at the Woodlawn Theatre. “It was like a burden was lifted off my shoulders. I had more time to spend with my children and more time to do things with them and make them happy.” The event was part of the Guaranteed Income Works national tour and included a screening of It’s Basic, a documentary feature film following guaranteed income recipients from pilots across the nation. The film was directed by Emmy award-winning director Marc Levin, and premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in June 2023. Last year, 110 Birmingham residents received $375 a month for a 12-month period through the Embrace Mothers guaranteed income program funded by Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a network of mayors advocating for guaranteed income to give Americans an income floor....