The Zilber Family Foundation has announced plans to partner with The Bridge Project to introduce Milwaukee’s first unconditional cash program for low-income, pregnant individuals in the city.
The program will provide 100 eligible participants with unconditional cash assistance designed to support their needs during the crucial early stages of their baby’s life.
Eligible participants must be 18 years or older, 23 weeks pregnant or less at time of application, live in the 53204, 53205, 53206 or 53215 zip codes, and have an annual household income of less than $39,000. Priority will be given to residents of the Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square or Layton Boulevard West neighborhoods.
Made possible through philanthropic funding from the Zilber Family Foundation and support from the Monarch Foundation, The Bridge Project’s expansion to Milwaukee marks its first program outside of New York. Early data from The Bridge Project in other cities has demonstrated that direct financial support enhances family stability and community health by enabling mothers to afford childcare more easily and build emergency savings.
Eligible participants accepted into the program will receive a $1,125 one-time, upfront prenatal stipend, $750 per month for the first 15 months of program participation, and then $375 per month for the remaining 9 months of program participation, bringing the total that each participant could receive to $15,750. Applications for the program will open on April 10, 2024, and participants will be selected by lottery.
With 100 participants expected, the Zilber Family Foundation plans to invest roughly $1.57 million into the program.
“The Bridge Project in Milwaukee represents a significant step towards increasing economic mobility, addressing childhood poverty, and supporting family stability in our community,” said Gina Stilp, executive director of the Zilber Family Foundation. “By providing direct financial support, we’re not only assisting families in need but seeking to interrupt cycles of generational poverty and reduce racial inequity.”
In Wisconsin, 1 in 7 children live in poverty. In the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative (ZNI) neighborhoods of Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square, and Layton Boulevard West, 44% of children are living in poverty.
Launched in New York in 2021 by the Monarch Foundation, The Bridge Project invests directly and flexibly in early childhood with an aim to break the cycle of stress and poverty passed down generationally and to enhance socioeconomic mobility of families.
“We are excited to partner with the Zilber Family Foundation to launch Milwaukee’s first unconditional cash program,” said The Bridge Project co-founder and president, Holly Fogle. “Building on the success of our New York initiatives, this effort will invest directly in mothers and their babies — ensuring their basic needs are met starting in pregnancy. In providing mothers with unrestricted cash for the first two years of their child’s life, we are able to provide a stable start to life and create positive lifelong effects across generations.”
