Rising UpTogether San Antonio
Rising UpTogether San Antonio is a second-phase pilot in which UpTogether invests unconditional monthly cash in 25 members drawn from its original 1,000-person, 25-month San Antonio guaranteed income cohort (2020–2023). Selected members have strong community-involvement backgrounds and an interest in policy work. In addition to receiving $500 a month for 18 months, participants engage in advocacy and storytelling with local partners (including the H. E. Butt Foundation's Know Your Neighbor initiative) to inform city policy and public narratives about poverty. The goal is to demonstrate the need for deeper, sustained cash investment beyond a short-term pilot.
Second-phase/alumni cohort, Policy advocacy, Storytelling, Continuation of larger UpTogether San Antonio pilot
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- UpTogether (formerly Family Independence Initiative)
- City
- San Antonio
- State / Province
- Texas
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://www.uptogether.org/
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Number of recipients
- 25
- Funding type
- Philanthropic
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 9,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 18 months
- Distribution Type
- Direct Deposit, Debit Card (physical or digital UpTogether Card)
- Benefit details
Selected members receive $500 per month for 18 months (total of $9,000 per participant), unrestricted and unconditional. Funds can be received via direct deposit to a linked bank account, or via a physical or digital UpTogether prepaid card for members without a bank account. Consistent with prior UpTogether practice, payment options across the platform can also include mobile wallets (Apple Pay/Google Pay) and virtual cards.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Participants are not newly recruited from the public; the 25 recipients were selected internally by UpTogether from among the roughly 1,000 members of its original December 2020–January 2023 San Antonio guaranteed income pilot (which required household income at or below 150% of the federal poverty level and residency in San Antonio, originally concentrated in ZIP codes 78207 and 78227). Selection for this second-phase cohort prioritized members with a strong community-involvement background and interest in engaging in policy/advocacy work.
Financial
- Income as % of Federal Poverty Level
- 1,502,020 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Texas
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- San Antonio
- Counties covered
- Bexar County
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Know Your Neighbor (H. E. Butt Foundation storytelling/advocacy initiative)
- Research / participation requirements
Participants are required to engage in advocacy and storytelling activities in collaboration with local organizations (including the H. E. Butt Foundation's Know Your Neighbor initiative, which produced the 'Hear/Here: Rising UpTogether' story series), sharing their lived experience with the City of San Antonio and other stakeholders to inform policy and narrative change around guaranteed income.
Application Process
- How to apply
Not open to public application. Participants were selected internally by UpTogether from the original 1,000-member San Antonio cohort (enrolled 2020) based on community-involvement background and interest in advocacy work; there is no public sign-up process for this specific 25-member cohort.
- Selection process
UpTogether identified and invited a subgroup of 25 members from its original 25-month San Antonio fund cohort who had demonstrated strong community involvement and expressed interest in engaging in policy and advocacy work.
