Thriving Community Fund
The Thriving Community Fund (TCF) is a statewide guaranteed income pilot from Miracle Messages that provides $750 per month for 12 months to 110 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness across California. Unlike Miracle Messages' earlier direct-service Miracle Money pilots, TCF is delivered entirely through five independent community-based partner organizations in San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Cruz, and Orange counties, each selecting and supporting its own participant population. The fund is privately/philanthropically funded and is undergoing an independent evaluation by Gray Space Consulting.
Homelessness, Multi-city, Multi-partner delivery model, Relational support, California, Cash plus
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Miracle Messages
- City
- San Francisco
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Phone
- +1 800 647 7968
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Active
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 110
- Funding type
- Philanthropic, Nonprofit
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 9,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 750 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 12 months
- Distribution Type
- Re-loadable debit card (per seed data, specific vendor GiveCard could not be independently confirmed for this program)
- Benefit details
Participants receive $750 per month for 12 months ($9,000 total), paid directly and monthly to reinforce agency and dignity. Funds are explicitly designed to supplement, not replace, earned income or public benefits. Enrollment, eligibility screening, and day-to-day program administration were handled independently by each of the five partner organizations rather than centrally by Miracle Messages. An optional relational/case-management support component, tailored by each partner organization, accompanies the cash.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligibility is set independently by each of five partner organizations and varies by cohort: families with children at risk of eviction (Families Forward, Orange County); women experiencing recent or current sheltered homelessness (WisePlace, Orange County); safe-parking program participants with earned income (Association of Faith Communities, Santa Cruz County); African American/Black men experiencing homelessness (East Oakland Collective, Alameda County); and fathers/families at risk of homelessness (Homeless Prenatal Program, San Francisco County). There is no single unified eligibility standard across the fund as a whole. Participants must already be engaged with, or referred through, one of these five partner organizations.
Demographics
- Gender
- Male, Female
- Race / ethnicity targets
- African American/Black (East Oakland Collective cohort only, not program-wide)
Family
- Family Status
- Parent
Housing
- Housing status
- Homeless
Geography
- US states covered
- California
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Santa Ana, Irvine
- Counties covered
- San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Cruz, Orange
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / participation requirements
An independent evaluation of the Thriving Community Fund model is being led by Gray Space Consulting (described as forthcoming as of the April 2026 Issue Brief no. 2), examining changes in stability, basic needs fulfillment, connectivity/relationships, and self-perceived wellbeing among participants receiving unconditional cash paired with trust-based relational support delivered by the five California partner organizations.
Application Process
- How to apply
Not applied for directly through Miracle Messages; enrollment was managed exclusively by the five partner organizations (Families Forward, WisePlace, Association of Faith Communities Santa Cruz, East Oakland Collective, Homeless Prenatal Program) through their own existing intake and screening processes for clients already engaged with their services. Program is now closed to new enrollment.
- Selection process
Each partner organization selected participants from within its own existing client base using its own screening tools and eligibility criteria; Miracle Messages did not centrally select participants.
