Detroit mothers know the math of survival before the first ultrasound photo ever makes it to the fridge. Rent due. DTE notice. A grocery cart that costs more each week. A body doing the work of building life while the bills keep coming.
Rx Kids, a cash aid program designed for pregnancy and a baby’s earliest months, opened applications in Detroit on Monday, Feb. 9, offering eligible Detroit moms $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for the first six months of a baby’s life. The launch is the largest expansion in the program’s Michigan footprint so far, landing in a city where nearly half of children under 5 live below the poverty level and an estimated 8,000 babies are born each year.
Rx Kids began in Flint and has expanded to 29 Michigan communities, delivering nearly $24 million to more than 5,700 families, organizers said. The model is simple: direct cash, no income requirement, with the goal of reducing stressors that contribute to poor maternal and infant health outcomes…