Dignity Restored: The Impact of Micro-Incomes on the Human Spirit.

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Dignity Restored: The Impact of Micro-Incomes on the Human Spirit.
By Brad Staples

One of the biggest challenges of being houseless is not just finding a job, somewhere safe to sleep or your next meal, the challenge is maintaining morale and a sense of dignity despite the immense hardships. People need more than just a roof over their heads, but the power and agency to make choices about their everyday lives. 

That is one of the strengths of providing a guaranteed micro income for unhoused individuals. It provides them with a safe and reliable income instead of forcing people to prove their worthiness for aid. This restores the agency, humanity and control an individual loses when they face a homelessness crisis and allows them to plan what to eat, where to sleep, pay for medicine and plan for the future, something that is lost to many when these sorts of crises occur. 


Evidence backs up the power of micro incomes, with the Denver Basic Income Project, where participants receiving unconditional cash transfers reported higher levels of stability, mental well being, and reduced time spent unsheltered compared to control groups. (Denver Basic Income Project, 2024). A similar review in The Lancet Public Health discovered that guaranteed basic income interventions led to measurable improvements in food security and psychological well being in high income countries like our own. (Gibson et al., 2024) When people are trusted to make decisions for themselves, they spend wisely to rebuild and get a sense of themselves back.


Even better, when micro income initiatives are anchored in local community hubs such as churches, libraries and community centers, the benefits multiply exponentially. The money from micro income initiatives circulates within local business and neighborhoods, providing a ripple effect of a stronger local economy.  As the Homeless Policy Research Institute found, guaranteed income programs “promote choice, autonomy, and human dignity while reducing costly crisis interventions” (HPRI, 2024). Portland already boasts an impressive local economy, so the benefits of this could be absolutely immense.


Guaranteed micro income is not just about reducing poverty and the economy, it's about recognizing the person who is suffering in a crisis, rebuilding trust between that individual and their community and recognizing that everyone deserves a little bit of agency, humanity and dignity to get back on their feet.

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