Max

Max was sharing a couch with his son in his mother’s living room at the time the program began. He was unemployed and struggling to find work, having lost his job as a taxi driver during the pandemic. Between looking for work, struggling to pay his bills, and having a son with fetal alcohol syndrome, he was experiencing a lot of anxiety and depression at the time. “I was stressed, like not knowing where my income was coming from and stuff like that..I was just making it by, you know, like barely making it. And then I got that first deposit and I'm like, man, this is real. And then it was just like a big rock off my chest.”

The unconditional income gave him choices he didn’t feel he had before. “I was like, man, I could really use this money. Like, I could really, you know, do things with this money that I didn't have before. I'm going to get my own house…I'm going to take my kids on trips.” Max used the money to get an apartment for him and his son. He continues to struggle to find work, but feels the money reduced some of the financial stress and improved his mental health. He tells us the money was life changing not only for himself but his son as well.