LANSING — An impactful cash assistance program could expand to more Northern Michigan communities in the coming years, thanks to a $270 million grant from the state.
The Rx Kids cash prescription initiative received more than a quarter of a billion dollars in this year’s state budget.
The program will receive that funding over the next three years to support cash payments for families and newborn babies.
“It will allow us to launch in dozens of new communities, reaching about 100,000 babies and families over the next three years,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, director of the Rx Kids program.
Mothers are able to receive $1,500 once during pregnancy and $500 a month for at least 6 months after birth.
Currently, the program has launched in half a dozen communities statewide, including Clare County and the Eastern Upper peninsula.
In the Eastern UP, Rx Kids has given out more than $1 million to 379 families since March of this year.
“Rx Kids was developed to really address how hard it is and how expensive it is to have a baby,” Hanna said. “It’s actually the poorest time in people’s lives, this maternal-infant period, because of a drop in income and this massive rise in expenses.”
Rx Kids estimates that in its first three months, 80% of eligible families in the Eastern UP were enrolled.
”What we are seeing in our rural communities is that families are spending this money on baby supplies,” Hanna said. “That’s the number one thing that families spend this money on, and then on food, rent and utilities.”
One of those recipients is Haley Stewart, a mother of four in Sault Ste. Marie. She delivered her youngest baby just days after Rx Kids launched in her area.
“When I first heard about it, I kind of couldn’t believe that it was a real program that was going to happen,” she said.
Stewart says that the first payment allowed her husband to take a week off of work, and that follow-up benefits have helped cover necessary expenses.
“For the following six months, that’s what I did with the money — I helped my husband pay the mortgage and make sure that he had a little bit of a relief from that, so that we could focus on everything else that we needed at the time.”
Stewart says that the assistance has allowed her family to spend more time together, letting her husband take work off to support them and bond with his new daughter.
Stewart says she’s hopeful Rx Kids or similar initiatives will reach more families in Michigan, and eventually across the country.
“It is going to be amazing to see that Michigan is so supportive — so hopefully all the other states can go with that,” she said.