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<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><img width="324" height="73" style="width:3.375in;height:.7604in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D794DB.2676AF60" alt="City of Durham Communications Department"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="color:#00467E">News Media Contact<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="color:#00467E">Amber Wade, Assistant to Mayor Schewel</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="color:#00467E">919.560.4333, ext. 12259</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="right" style="text-align:right"><a href="mailto:Amber.Wade@DurhamNC.gov">Amber.Wade@DurhamNC.gov</a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:5.0pt;color:#00467E"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:50.0pt;color:#00467F">News Release</span><span style="font-variant:small-caps;color:#00467F">
</span><br>
<span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#EF3D42">For Immediate Release: August 19, 2021</span><span style="color:#D3372A"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;color:black">StepUp Durham Selected as Administrator of City's Guaranteed Income Pilot</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Pilot Expected to Launch in Late 2021</span></i><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black">DURHAM, N.C. – </span>On Monday night<span style="color:black">, the City Council voted to authorize a contract with
</span><a href="https://www.stepupdurham.org/">StepUp Durham</a><span style="color:black"> to administer Durham’s Guaranteed Income Pilot.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black">With City funding, StepUp Durham will hire a full-time coordinator dedicated to the implementation of this pilot. Through a grant from
</span><a href="https://www.mayorsforagi.org/">Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI)</a><span style="color:black">, 115 formerly-incarcerated individuals will be randomly selected to receive an unconditional, cash transfer of $500 per month. The pilot will last
one year. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white">The objective of Durham’s local pilot is to evaluate guaranteed income’s effects on recidivism and re-incarceration, employment, economic security and income volatility as
well as physical functioning, mental health, stress and coping, parenting, housing, and interactions with other institutional systems. </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black">Durham’s Guaranteed Income Pilot is also part of a collective evaluation by
</span><a href="https://www.penncgir.org/"><span style="background:white;mso-highlight:white">The Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR)</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white"> at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Social Policy and Practice</span><span style="color:black">. CGIR’s <span style="background:white;mso-highlight:white">
role is to consolidate key learnings from the pilots taking place in MGI</span></span><span style="color:blue">-</span><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white">member cities, to address knowledge gaps in the contemporary understanding
of guaranteed income’s impact for Americans, and to allow the organization to layer data with anecdotal evidence in federal advocacy.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white">“I am so excited that the planning of this pilot is progressing as it continues to build upon the work the City has already undertaken to support individuals who are returning
from incarceration. StepUp Durham will be a magnificent partner and guaranteed income payments will go a long way in ensuring that individuals have a successful transition back into their families and our community.
</span><span style="background:white;mso-highlight:white">2020<span style="color:black"> has exacerbated economic insecurity, not only for those who are system-impacted, but for many others across our city. I’m extremely proud of the many things Durham is doing
to uplift vulnerable populations of residents, including this pilot program,” sa</span>id<span style="color:black"> Mayor Steve Schewel.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white">Though cash payments are unconditional and not based on participation in wrap-around support,<a name="_heading=h.gjdgxs"></a> participants will be offered enrollment in StepUp
Durham’s employment placement services. </span><span style="color:black">StepUp Durham’s employment counselors and staff will support guaranteed income recipients with job readiness training, ongoing job search, and job retention support and walk with individuals
as they pursue continuing education opportunities and work alongside them to secure transitional and permanent housing.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing">“StepUp Durham is honored to serve in the role of Program Administrator. We believe this pilot is going to have a positive impact on the city and those who participate. For many participants, these dollars will provide access to basic
needs. With some of these needs met, StepUp Durham is well-positioned to partner with individuals around longer-term stability,” said StepUp Durham Executive Director Syretta Hill.<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="color:black">More information regarding recruitment for individuals who may be eligible to participate in this pilot will be released by StepUp Durham in the coming months.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color:black">About Step Up-Durham</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://www.stepupdurham.org/">StepUp Durham</a><span style="color:black"> is a nonprofit organization that since 2015 has provided employment training and placement services to more than 1,000 individuals. Created with an equity
and asset-based lens, StepUp Durham primarily works with low to moderate-income people to build promising futures and decrease the cycle of poverty.</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color:black">About Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI)</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://www.mayorsforagi.org/">Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI)</a><span style="color:black"> is a network of mayors across the country committed to advancing local pilots and the national conversation around guaranteed
income. <span style="background:white;mso-highlight:white">A guaranteed income is a monthly, cash payment given directly to individuals. It is unconditional, with no strings attached and no work requirements. This monthly cash payment to individuals is meant
to supplement, rather than replace, the existing social safety net and be a tool to close the racial and gender income gap. Since its establishment in June 2020, the coalition has created a significant increase in support for guaranteed income policy across
the country.</span></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><b><span style="color:black">About Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR)</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><a href="https://www.penncgir.org/"><span style="background:white;mso-highlight:white">The Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR)</span></a><span style="color:black;background:white;mso-highlight:white"> is an applied research
center specializing in cash-transfer research, evaluation, pilot design, and narrative change. CGIR provides mixed-methods expertise in designing and executing empirical guaranteed income studies that work alongside the existing safety net and serve as the
centralized research partners for Mayors for a Guaranteed Income.</span><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">###</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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