Evanston is holding a series of registration sessions across the city for its Guaranteed Income Program as officials work to distribute $300,000 in federal funds before a year-end deadline.

City staff set up tables Tuesday afternoon at Evanston Public Library’s main branch and the Dr. Jorge and Luz Maria Prieto Community Center to process applications and speak with residents about the program, which will provide 102 households with $500 monthly cash grants for six months.

The city has already received around 150 applications since beginning the new round last week, according to city staff. Eligible residents must have a household income at or below 185% of the federal poverty line and must be either 55 years old or older or have a child in second grade or younger.

Officials will use a lottery system to select recipients.

This effort marks the culmination of the final round of the Guaranteed Income Program, which first launched in 2022. The city received $900,000 through the American Rescue Plan Act for its second round of payments in 2024, but only 99 households applied for 150 available spots, leaving much of the funds unspent.

Last month, City Council voted to expand eligibility and double the number of open slots from 51 to 102 in an effort to distribute the remaining $300,000 before it expires at the end of 2026.

Alison Leipsiger, the city’s policy and intergovernmental affairs manager and one of the architects of the Guaranteed Income Program, has been personally registering applicants since the program began.

“A lot of people don’t have an extra $400 if they get a flat tire, if their car breaks, if their kid is sick and they have to miss a shift of work,” Leipsiger said. “Giving people that cushion really gives them the opportunity to breathe and flourish.”

The city does not track the spending habits of individual recipients, but Leipsiger said aggregate data from the first round of payments showed that participants generally spent their payments on food, rent and clothing.

While research on the subject has not been conclusive, Leipsiger pointed to “a bazillion studies” showing the benefits of unconditional cash transfers.

“Guaranteed income and universal basic income programs are studied ad nauseam,” Leipsiger said. “I think it’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the idea. We are not used to government benefits that are unconditional, and that’s a real mental shift for folks.”

Mayor Daniel Biss, who won the Democratic primary to succeed U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) in March, has touted the Guaranteed Income Program as a success for the city.

“Guaranteed income programs provide critical support to families while boosting the local economy,” Biss wrote in a Bluesky post after Council voted to expand the program. “We’re leading the way in Evanston, and I’m ready to fight for these programs in Congress!”

Leipsiger registered around 10 applicants on Tuesday, a sharp decline from the more than 100 residents who lined up at the Robert Crown Community Center last week, she said.

Fourth Ward resident Elena Levitskaya handed Leipsiger last year’s tax filings and her photo ID — the only two documents needed to apply — at EPL on Tuesday morning. 

Levitskaya, 62, retired last year and is now facing $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs for two dental crowns. She immigrated to the U.S. from Azerbaijan in 1992, fleeing conflict after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and has since made Evanston her home.

“It’s a big thing,” Levitskaya said. “Whatever is done by the City of Evanston, I find it very graceful and gracious that there are lots of services.”

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