Monthly payments of $528 to 100 low-income entrepreneurs in Ann Arbor, Michigan, started to go out in mid-January.

Payments stem from the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor, a two-year guaranteed income pilot program led by the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions team. The program has been allocated $1.6 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

One hundred participants were selected randomly from an applicant pool of small business owners and entrepreneurs who demonstrated financial needs.

The payments started going out in January, and they will be sent out on the 15th of each month, depending on when weekends or holidays fall, Kristin Seefeldt, the associate director of Poverty Solutions, told the Washington Examiner. The next payment will be sent out on Feb. 15.

“This guaranteed income pilot is about celebrating residents who do much to strengthen our community but are still struggling to make ends meet,” Seefeldt said in October 2023. She is also an associate professor of social work and public policy at the University of Michigan.

The application is closed, but interested participants must be residents of Ann Arbor and at least 18 to qualify. Applicants must have an income at or below 225% of the federal poverty line, and those who receive or could be eligible for federal assistance, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Pell Grants, likely qualified.

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The application was open to those who identified as an “entrepreneur, owner of a formal or informal small business, independent contractor, provide paid services informally, or a gig worker” in various industries.

“Unlike food stamps, where you can only use the money to buy food, with guaranteed income, the recipient can direct payments however they want,” Seefeldt told E-Current magazine. “You could pay bills, save, or buy birthday presents. It’s supposed to reflect a sense of providing people with dignity and acknowledging their decision making is valid.”