Mutual Aid Fund & Thriving Futures Guaranteed Income Program

MJF’s guaranteed income program is the next iteration of our mutual aid efforts that supported working-class Muslim families impacted by the pandemic. Muslims for Just Futures’ mutual aid fund for workers and families disbursed $204,000 in cash assistance to Muslim working class families and workers in the DMV in order to help them fight evictions, provide rental support, pay for bills, and address their basic needs. We engaged in a process to better understand ways MJF could connect our mutual aid work to powerbuilding and developing a pipeline of organizing leaders. We began studying guaranteed income programs (GIP) and whether we could turn our mutual aid fund into a guaranteed income pilot program. The guaranteed income approach isn’t a new idea, and numerous cities and counties across the country are implementing this model. Guaranteed Income programs center individuals who have the highest financial need and differs from a universal basic income model that would offer income to everyone, irrespective of financial need. While most of the guaranteed income pilots are partnerships between government agencies and social services providers, or philanthropic institutions, we wanted to pilot a community funded program that is rooted in powerbuilding. 

We raised $50,000 during Ramadan to support the program and are partnering with A Wider Circle, which will be providing support services, such as career services and professional clothing, as well as thought partnership in advancing guaranteed income programs in the DMV region. MJF positions Thriving Futures from a framework of investing into communities that have experienced heavy divestment from state violence, criminalization, Islamophobia, and economic exploitation.