Applications end this Friday for Chicago Resilient Communities guaranteed basic income program

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Time is running out to apply for the Chicago Resilient Communities guaranteed basic income pilot program.

The program will give cash to 5,000 Chicago families who could use a financial boost.

Low-income households will get $500 a month for a year.

The program began accepting applications on April 25, and will continue accepting them through 11:59 p.m. this coming Friday at chicago.gov/cashpilot.

To qualify for the program, residents must have lived in Chicago for at least one year, be 18 years old or older, have experienced economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and have a household income below 250 percent of the federal poverty level. That's $57,575 for a family of three, according to the Mayor's office.

The city has chosen international nonprofit GiveDirectly and Denver-based tech platform AidKit to administer the program. YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the Center for Changing Lives, Phalanx Family Services, Pui Tak Center, Spanish Coalition for Housing, and the United African Organization to conduct outreach efforts to get eligible Chicagoans to sign up for the program.

The City Council approved the basic income pilot program as part of Lightfoot's $16.7 billion budget plan for 2022.