Central Ohio Cash Transfer Programs

Here are some programs we are engaged with, exploring, or aware of in central Ohio. Our goal is to learn from these programs to develop solutions that can be packaged and adopted in other communities. We encourage you to get involved with these, or find a new community to build with.

two.fifty.four Teen Center

We are launching a Rooted Schools program in fall 2025 starting with 10 high school students from two.fifty.four.

Refugio Rafael

two.fifty.four has developed a relationship with a community center near Cochabamba, Bolivia, and we are in the early stages of designing a cash transfer program to support students graduating from this program. Here is more information on Refugio Rafael.

Motherful

32 single moms from the Motherful collective are receiving $500 per month from a local basic income program. Furthermore, this nonprofit has given a significant portion of their donations over the years directly to single moms. This group knows the value of a cash transfer and how it lets members engage in a way that lifts everyone up.

Comingle

Comingle is coming at this problem of scaling generosity from the other side. They are beginning with the financial tools to share resources and then adding the community component. We encourage you to follow the progress of this country-wide program and plug in as it scales.

???

Do you want to give this a try? Please reach out! We need three pieces: Someone willing to help (with the cash), someone in need, and a community to deliver. The model depends on several concepts:

  • Exploitation, coercion, and paternalism are to be avoided. Some strings are inevitable when resources are limited, but trust is the goal.

  • Life is random. If you teach or believe that living right means you won’t have financial problems, this isn’t for you.

  • Community is key. This is not just about cash transfers. Cash transfers might let people survive, but they are not enough to allow them to thrive. We add cash to enable survival and look to communities to do the rest. With Almost Basic Income, we need pockets of people committed to building community to make this scale. UBI can’t be gamed, but ABI could be without the game-proof element introduced by community. This is a subtle point, but worth unpacking. Once UBI is available, everyone is in and able to engage with dignity. As existing communities expand, they already know each person they engage with has a stream of cash available to them. Help then becomes a matter of investing time. With ABI, only are a few are in, and we need to facilitate the connections between those in need and the communities that can come alongside them.