In 2020, King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay initiated the King County Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot program, which was funded by community service operating grant allocations and repurposed office funds. These funds were administered to the Rainier Beach Action Coalition, and Urban Family, two community-based organizations (CBOs) based in South King County. For the duration of a year, these funds allowed for $1,000 payments to each GBI participant, five from each CBO for a total of ten participants. Over the next year, I was part of a graduate student research team that tracked the pilot program’s progress and wrote a research report analyzing its findings. What we learned along the way showed us the promise of GBI to improve people’s lives.
As a long-time native of South King County, I was immensely moved by the stories and backgrounds of all the participants who were gracious enough to share their experiences with me and my team. While only an hour at the time, the interviews we conducted not only allowed me to hear of the great ways that the funds and materials positively impacted their financial literacy, mental health, and wellbeing, they also allowed me to form a personal connection with these households and their lived experiences.
