Anthony

Anthony has a 9-month-old daughter who lives with his girlfriend on the other side of town at the start of the program. Their daughter was born three months premature and has specialized medical needs because of this. His biggest sources of stress at the time are his daughter’s health, and his finances. He has a job in customer service, but his real goal for the future is to get his side business–doing digital graphic design–to become profitable. When he learns about the $1,000 a month he sees this as the perfect opportunity to do just that. He tells us, “There's no way that I'm going to take this opportunity and not make some progress and not progress from it.” 

For Anthony, the money unlocked his potential. During the last three years, Anthony uses the $1,000 to save money and eventually rents an apartment for himself, his girlfriend, and their daughter in a neighborhood he prefers. He uses the money to buy a better computer that he needed for his digital art. He also used the money to pay for classes in an advanced technology program. The unconditional income helped him go back to school, and supported him investing more time and effort into his business. As a result, his graphic design business is now a primary source of income.