Guaranteed Income Pilot Programs

BTCF-GICC

BTCF Guaranteed Income for Columbia County is a two-year pilot program providing $500 monthly to single-caregiver households with children age 6 and under. Designed to increase financial stability, improve well-being, and expand opportunity, the program reaches 42 participants—two from each of Columbia County’s 21 towns—selected by lottery.

Lottery application forms were open for submission May - July 2025. Selected by random lotteries (one for each town/city county-wide), participants were notified of selection and onboarded to receive their first $500 in August 2025. Participants will continue to receive $500 monthly through July 2027, unless they elect to withdraw from the program.

The pilot is a partnership between Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation (BTCF) and Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood (GHPN). For more information about BTCF Guaranteed Income for Columbia County, or to become a prospective donor, visit berkshiretaconic.org.

Eligibility Criteria

Two participants were be selected from each of the twenty-one towns/cities in Columbia County.

In order to be eligible for selection, as of July 2025, participants had to be residents of Columbia County and,

  1. Single caregiver household* with a child, or children, age 6 and younger

  2. Household income is below 80% of 2025 Area Median Income (AMI) for Columbia County**

*Single caregivers inclusive of: biological parents, adoptive parents, legal guardians, and kinship caregivers.

An independent, third-party evaluation is being conducted - we look forward to sharing updates as BTCF-GICC continues.

Want to know more about BTCF-GICC?

Visit: https://berkshiretaconic.org/initiatives-impact/btcf-guaranteed-income

Or, contact GHPN Director of Special Projects, Nicole Fallon, nicole@greaterhudsonpromise.org.

About HudsonUP

HudsonUP is a collaborative basic income pilot program in the City of Hudson.

128 participants currently receive $500 every month, for 5 years, unrestricted and guaranteed.

Initially launched in 2020, HudsonUP has been a unique opportunity to broaden GHPN’s partnership with the Spark of Hudson and to provide direct cash relief to city of Hudson residents.  The program was designed and implemented with the influence and oversight of the HudsonUP Advisory Board, which is comprised of local leaders, elected officials, researchers, etc., to evaluate the pilot and with the shared goal of benefitting the Hudson community and to demonstrate the power of basic income for all.

In this role, GHPN has been able to ensure that participants have community-based points of contact and trusted staff, offering support from onboarding through the final pilot payment.

Since launching in 2020 as the nation’s first long-term basic income pilot in a small city, HudsonUP staff have been active members of the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice and the New York State Cash Alliance.

For more information about HudsonUP and the pilot History, visit the HudsonUP website.