Early September 2023, the Project Coordination Team hosted UpLift’s Community Conversations Series event “What is Basic Income?” at the Varsity Cinema. The event served as an opportunity for interested stakeholders to learn more about the basic income model and to share their thoughts about the potential impacts of a basic income in our community. 

The event featured a viewing of “Raising the Floor”, a short documentary that tells the story of how Chelsea, Massachusetts decided to address the increasing food insecurity occurring within their community during the height of the pandemic. What started as a grassroots food distribution effort quickly became a basic income pilot called Chelsea Eats. This short-term effort combined city general revenue funds, state aid, and philanthropic contributions to disburse unrestricted cash assistance to approximately 2,000 households. 

After the viewing, the Project Coordination Team facilitated a discussion session with audience members to gather initial thoughts about Chelsea’s approach of using a basic income to meet their community’s needs, as well as ask questions of and provide feedback on the UpLift pilot strategy.

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