Salem 'Guaranteed Income' Program Draws 'Astounding' Response

SALEM, MA — The Salem guaranteed income pilot program designed to help combat poverty in the city by giving 100 residents $500 a month in guaranteed income closed its application process just one day after it opened upon receiving "an astounding amount of responses," the city said on Tuesday.

Uplift Salem is a pilot program that the city is running in collaboration with UpTogether aimed at helping make Salem "an affordable place for everyone."

• Salem To Give Residents $500 Monthly 'Guaranteed Income' For 1 Year

The program cost of $685,000 is funded through the American Rescue Plan Act and a private contribution to UpTogether. Residents will be able to spend the $500 a month in cash payments on whatever they choose.

The application process opened on Monday and was set to remain open for two weeks or until 350 applications were received. About 24 hours later, the response closed the process to new applications.

Housed and unhoused Salem residents are eligible with income eligibility limited to being at or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level based on household size.

Pilot members will be randomly selected from eligible applications, with members receiving their first payments by Dec. 1.

Salem officials advised those with any questions about their application for Uplift Salem to reach out to UpTogether's Support team.

UpTogether Support is available in both English and Spanish, and has translation services available for those who speak other languages. Live Support Agents are available at 878-444-2932 Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

More support information is available online here or by emailing help@uptogether.org.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)