Featured photo: Kenyetta Dotson, director at Michigan State University – Pediatric Health Initiative with a family of visitors to the Rx Kids Free Family Day event
Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
Kenyetta Dotson, director at Michigan State University – Pediatric Health Initiative, told the Courier she is a mom from the north end of Flint who raised three children and once lived in poverty, and worked multiple jobs while in school to make ends meet. So, she “knows how it is.” She remembers carrying bottles to the store to get extra dollars to pay for groceries.
The Rx Kids program provides expecting mothers with $500 a month and $1,500 mid-pregnancy, for a total of about $7, 200 per mother over a year. The infant must be born in 2024 or afterwards.
“I understand the importance of having $500 extra a month that won’t interfere with your EBT or any other assistance that you might be receiving,” Dotson said. “…I understand how hard it is living in an under-resourced community, even though I come from a good and supportive family. I understand it takes all of us coming together to support young people who have dreams – who want to do more than what they see on a day-to-day basis.”
On Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2024, Rx Kids, the first citywide maternal and infant cash prescription program in the nation, hosted two free community-wide celebrations.
First, Rx Kids Free Family Day featured more than a dozen community resource tables providing information not only about the Rx Kids program, but also on early childhood programming, health insurance connections, childcare resources, free cell phones and more.
The “All We Need is Love” Adult Launch Bash featured local and national talent including co-hosts ABC12 news anchor Dawn Jones and comedian Jerry Minor, performances by Mama Sol who debuted her Flint Rx Kids song, David Blight, Semaj Brown, Feimstro, Flint Institute of Music, Flint Freedom School and nationally acclaimed R&B artist Raheem DeVaughn.
According to Dotson, the goal of both events was “really just to have fun” and “to let people know how important they are.”
“…This program is about love,” said Dotson. “It’s about showing the value of people. It’s about letting everybody know that they are truly somebody. That’s why the cash allowance that is being allocated to moms, to families, to babies is given in a way that it’s not dictated how they spend that money. They can spend it however they need to spend it that is going to strengthen and help their family system.”
Day Austin, program associate with GiveDirectly, said there have been over 700 applications so far, and about half of the applicants have been approved and received payments. Austin said moms were also signing up for the program at the Rx Kids Free Family Day, and many people picked up information for their loved ones and friends.
“Our goal is to enroll every mother in Flint that is eligible,” stated Austin.
She further said the goal is to enroll over 1,000 moms per year.
She explained those currently eligible included every expecting mom that was at least 20 weeks pregnant.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a co-director of Flint Rx Kids, told the Courier over $400,000 in cash has already been prescribed through the program. She said in about half of the approximately 350 people who were fully enrolled, the annual household income was less than $10,000.
“That’s why we’re doing this program,” Hanna-Attisha stated. “The data tells us that around childbirth is when families are the poorest. We know that Flint is one of the poorest city in the state. But to actually see those numbers is still a bit jaw-dropping, but also reaffirming of why this program is so important for our families.”
Hanna-Attisha contacted the other co-director of Flint Rx Kid, Luke Shaefer, a professor at the University of Michigan and director of Poverty Solutions, after having the idea for Rx Kids.
Shaefer said he grew up without a lot of money and wrote the book “$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America.” An expert on calculating incomes of the poor, Shaefer discovered that the number of American families living on $2.00 per person, per day, was one and a half million households, including about three million children. He is one of the architects of the National Expanded Child Tax Credit, which is credited with dropping child poverty to its lowest level.
Shaefer described being able to shape how Rx Kids is designed and raise money for it as “the most wonderful thing in his career” and said it’s worth celebrating!
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and Shaefer enjoy the Rx Kids Free Family Day event with a local mother and her son.
.To learn more about, get enrolled or otherwise get involved with Rx Kids, visit FlintRxKids.com.
