Community Spring in The News

"Hope goes a long way for people accustomed to hopelessness" — May 11, 2026

Substack: Guaranteed Income Works

The carceral system costs Americans over $445 billion each year, mostly spent keeping people behind bars. Upon release, people face severe barriers to employment and housing that often force them back into homelessness or incarceration. Our guaranteed income program, Just Income, offers a proven alternative that reduces recidivism and saves taxpayer money.

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Living after prison, danger emissions, a Rowdie pioneer, don’t close the book on Haslam’s — May 5, 2026

Florida Matters Live & Local, WUSP NPR(Matthew Peddie, Gracyn Doctor, Quincy Walter, Amelie Horace)

Our Director of Guaranteed Income, Kevin Scott, joined Florida Matters Live & Local to discuss the financial and human costs of mass incarceration, reentry barriers, and how guaranteed income helps people rebuild their lives.

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Two Exes in One Day, LISK Ritual Revealed, and Missy Bevers 10-Years Later — April 24, 2026

True Crime Tonight Podcast

Over 80 million Americans have a criminal record and face nearly 44,000 legal restrictions blocking basic access to housing, jobs, and education. In honor of Second Chance Month, Director of Guaranteed Income Kevin Scott joined True Crime Tonight to discuss how Community Spring is breaking the cycle of poverty and reincarceration.

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Prison Policy Initiative Backs Cash Aid for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals — April 18, 2026

The Vanguard(Hannah Kennedy)

Following the Prison Policy Initiative's national endorsement of Just Income, this feature in The Vanguard details the national call for policymakers to adopt direct cash assistance models to aid reentry.

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Guaranteed income helps people leaving jail and prison, and that helps everyone — April 10, 2026

Prison Policy Initiative(Aleks Kajstura)

Highlighting the systemic gaps facing formerly incarcerated individuals, this report shows how Just Income improves community safety, boosts self-sufficiency, and reduces public costs.

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Community Spring looks to build civic engagement among disenfranchised residents — April 6, 2026

Mainstreet Daily News(Seth Johnson)

Coverage of Community Spring's Community Power Building initiative, designed to educate and build civic power alongside justice-impacted residents beyond the voting booth.

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Amid devastating federal cuts, states can help families with direct cash — January 21, 2026

Otherwords(Tracy Yeung & Leila Reynolds)

An overview of how direct cash assistance programs like Just Income offer vital financial stability as federal safety net programs face severe cuts.

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Local nonprofit hosts Resource Fair for those with criminal record — January 16, 2026

WCJB

Coverage of Community Spring's second annual Resource Fair, connecting neighbors returning from incarceration with reentry support, housing assistance, and voting rights restoration.

Three organizations that are working on solutions to inequality — November 24, 2025

Oxfam America

Our nation is in the midst of an inequality crisis. Community Spring was featured as one of the organizations working on solutions to inequality in Oxfam America's latest report, UNEQUAL: The rise of a new American oligarchy and the agenda we need. Through our guaranteed income program, we're working toward equality by providing income to individuals recently released from incarceration, offering them a meaningful opportunity to achieve stability during reentry.

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How Fair Chance Hiring Practices Strengthen the Entire Workforce — September 26, 2025

National League of Cities

In 2022, Community Spring led the effort to pass Gainesville's Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance for private employers, making history as Florida's first city to adopt this policy. Now, three years later, the National League of Cities is highlighting our work as a model for cities across the country. The results are clear: lower unemployment rates and stronger communities. This is the power of economic justice in action. When we invest in those most impacted by systemic barriers, everyone benefits.

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Guaranteed Income Strategy Guide — August 7, 2025

Results for America (Shafeka Hashash, Dr. Stacia West, Misuzu Schexnider, & Kevin Scott)

Explore lessons on what makes guaranteed income initiatives successful in the Guaranteed Income Strategy Guide from Results for America. This guide, which highlights real-world examples like our Just Income program in Gainesville, reinforces the importance of community-led solutions and our work in addressing poverty and promoting equity.

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Florida Republicans signal support for banning guaranteed income programs funded by taxpayer dollars — April 10, 2025

Orlando Weekly (McKenna Schueler)

On Wednesday April 9th, Florida lawmakers advanced a bill (HB 1193) that would ban government-funded guaranteed income programs in Florida, despite no such programs currently existing in the state. Our guaranteed income program, Just Income, was a main focus throughout the discussion despite it being privately funded.

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2 cities tried basic income for formerly incarcerated people. Participants felt more food secure but struggled to pay for housing — February 23, 2025

Business Insider (Allie Kelly)

Gainesville, FL, and Durham, NC, tested guaranteed income to support formerly incarcerated individuals facing financial instability. While many participants saw improvements in food security and employment, housing costs remained a significant challenge after payments ended. The pilot results highlight the impact of guaranteed income and the ongoing need for policies that address economic barriers for people returning home from incarceration.

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New study: guaranteed income for formerly incarcerated shows promise — February 14, 2025

Trinity College (Faculty)

Two groundbreaking studies led by sociologist Dr. Lucius Couloute confirm what we’ve known all along—guaranteed income for formerly incarcerated people changes lives. The research focused on our Just Income program and the Excel guaranteed income program in Durham, NC. Both studies found that guaranteed income helped formerly incarcerated people in several critical ways.

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Groundbreaking experiments with guaranteed income for formerly incarcerated individuals show promising results — February 13, 2025

Penn Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania (Carson Easterly)

“Research from the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) reveals the profound potential of guaranteed income (GI) for individuals reentering communities after incarceration…”

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Exploring the potential role of financial interventions to improve the health of families impacted by incarceration — February 1, 2025

Current Opinion in Pediatrics 37(1):p 34-39 (Destiny G Tolliver, Benjamin Howell, Sarah Blanton, Emily A Wang)

Emerging data on guaranteed income programs for formerly incarcerated adults, such as our Just Income program, indicates that the funds improve recipient health and legal system outcomes and allow participants to spend funds on stabilizing themselves and their families.

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Community Spring hosts resource fair aimed at helping former inmates reenter society — January 13, 2025

Gainesville Sun (Cleveland Tinker)

On January 10, Community Spring hosted a Community Resource Fair to provide resources for our third cohort of Just Income recipients and other community members. We partnered with other local groups, most notably the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC) which assisted participants with resolving fines and fees.