Multi-Million Dollar Aid Program Brings Hope To Mercer County

An influx of cash will provide more than 500 residents of Mercer County with something they may have never had: a real shot at the American dream. 

Those who are chosen – all at or close to the poverty line –  will receive $1,500 each month for 16 months… and here’s the key: no strings attached. Those in the program decide for themselves how to spend the money.

But could it make a long term difference – not just for the individual recipients and their families, but for their communities as well? That’s the hope.

At the popular local Dab’s Country Cookin’ in Princeton last week… the applause couldn’t come often enough. For the tasty spread, for the generous benefactor and his multi-million dollar investment into this struggling community, but mostly for the rare sense of hope it brings for some folks who’ve had precious little of that.

“I don’t know that words could adequately describe how really positive this impact is going to be,” said Travis Helmondolla, chief operating officer for Community Action of Southeastern West Virginia (CASEWV).

Administered through the New York-based non-profit Give Directly, the Rural Income for Self Empowerment Guaranteed Minimum Income, or RISE GMI – program uses philanthropic funds from wealthy benefactors to give cash benefits directly to those in need. Roughly 550 recipients will be selected from Mercer County.

Helmondolla’s program handles everything from Head Start and child nutrition to senior services and transportation. He’s helped several people apply for the funding and knows there are countless ways those funds could help.

“One young person would use the funds to purchase a reliable vehicle so they can get to work and make an effective living,” he said. “Stories like a young mother who’s hopeful excitement of having funds to pay for her grocery bills without having to go in debt using a credit card.” 

Those who are chosen – all at or close to the poverty line –  will receive the funds with no strings attached. They decide for themselves how to spend the money.

“Children that are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, it’s very hard for them to focus when they’re in school because they don’t know when they’re getting their next meal or where they’re sleeping that night,” said Alysha Crawford, the ICARE facilitator for Mercer County Public Schools. “All of these are very real challenges that are right here in our back backyard.”

There’s a determined spirit here, but like the abandoned homes and barns fading into the landscape, it’s been worn down by the decades, the generations of poverty. Flickers of hope are so rare that when Laura Keen, the U.S. program director for Give Directly first contacted aid workers in Mercer County to discuss the program – most of them thought it was a scam.

“And I’m sure it sounded too good to be true and incredibly fraudulent, because they did not answer me,” she said with a smile. She was not exactly surprised. Her organization has overseen scores of other programs like this one.

“Since we started in 2017 we’ve delivered about $300 million in payments to low income Americans in all 50 states. And you might be thinking, ‘Well, why cash? Why not boxes of food and clothing, or rent vouchers or financial literacy trainings?’ We believe at Give Directly that in many cases, just giving unconditional cash to families in poverty is often the most streamlined and most dignified way for them to address their individual needs,” she said.

Along with two other counties in North Carolina and Mississippi, the program is coming to Mercer County because that’s where Jeff Atwood’s dad and three older siblings were raised by their single mom in the coal-mining town of Matoaka. It was a hard-scrabble life and yet, Atwood Senior eventually thrived – in large part due to the help of his community. 

What bothered his successful, software developing son was the fact that – all these years later – the place is still steeped in poverty, the kind of generational distress that makes it hard, almost impossible, to imagine a way out.  

“I think that’s one of the problems we face in this country. It’s the richest country in the world. But where is the money really going? It’s going in the hands of very, very few people, unfortunately,” said Jeff Atwood. 

“And I would like to change some of that and actually reach out and help these rural communities that are full of so much talent that is held back by lack of opportunity, lack of money, lack of having to hold four jobs just to survive.” 

Perhaps the most startling aspect of the program is its simplicity – the lack of strings. There’s plenty of research to support the concept – the vast majority of recipients don’t blow the funds on substance abuse or destructive purchases, said Keen. 

But for Atwood, it’s a matter of trust. Of respect and dignity. What he gets for his investment is data that he can use the next time around.

“I want us to show the whole United States what y’all can do, what we can do when we work together as a team to help each other get ahead, … and eventually, using the data that we generate here showing what y’all can do with this and the good outcomes we almost always see in these kind of programs, reach all 50 states, county by county,” he said.

The recipients will be randomly chosen from the list of applicants. But already, those who work most closely with the many who are qualified find it hard to put into words how much difference this program can make.

“We are forever grateful to this opportunity. We’re excited to learn from it, and we’re incredibly honored, truly to play a part,” said Helmondolla. 

The application process is open through Oct. 31. Of those who are qualified, 550 will be randomly selected for the program.