A cash-aid program for expectant moms and babies is now taking applications in Pontiac.
Rx Kids offers $4,500 to eligible families — $1,500 mid-pregnancy and $500 for the first months of the baby’s life. It’s the most recent expansion of the program, led by Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, on a mission to slash infant poverty. Rx Kids, which began in Flint more than a year ago, has also expanded to parts of the Upper Peninsula and Kalamazoo.
“Rx Kids is an investment in Pontiac’s families, and in the future of every child born here. We are proud to help deliver the resources families need at the very moment they need them most, ensuring that every Pontiac baby has the opportunity to grow up healthy, strong, and full of promise,” said Susan Harding, CEO of the Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency (OLHSA) in a news release.
Related:
- Program to cut infant poverty takes root in cities, counties across Michigan
- Cash payment program for moms and babies to expand to Pontiac in May
- Kalamazoo moms can apply to get $7,500 next year. Detroiters could be next
- What happens when you give moms and babies $7,500? Flint is finding out
- Michigan lawmakers see promise in cash aid program. Where it’s expanding
Expectant mothers living in Pontiac who are at least 16 weeks pregnant or who had a baby on or after May 1 are eligible. To apply, go to rxkids.org.
“When we invest in mothers and babies, we invest in Pontiac’s future,” Hanna, director of Rx Kids and associate dean of public health at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, said in the release. The program, administered by global nonprofit GiveDirectly, is a collaboration between MSU’s Pediatric Public Health Initiative and the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions initiative.
So far, the program has distributed roughly $8.6 million to more than 2,000 families from the eastern U.P. to downstate, in Kalamazoo and Flint. Program participants in Flint reported spending the money on basics like baby supplies and food, and feeling more financially secure. And pregnant women the Free Press spoke to earlier this year said Rx Kids would make a difference, saying they’d use the money on diapers, formula, wipes and to save.
Pontiac’s version of the program can help an estimated 800 mothers in its first years. The program is backed by $8.5 million in public and philanthropic funds for two years, officials said in March.
Rx Kids is hosting a “baby parade” to celebrate the launch of the program in Pontiac. The event, featuring games, food trucks, music and giveaways, will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on May 9 at the Wisner Memorial Stadium, located at 441 Cesar E. Chavez Ave. in Pontiac. For more information, go rxkids.org/rx-kids-baby-parade-pontiac.