If you believe in the power of guaranteed income, you can join the city to help make sure Elevate Boulder can continue to provide unrestricted direct cash assistance to Boulder community members in need by making a donation to the Elevate Boulder Fund.
Elevate Boulder is the city’s guaranteed income pilot project that’s providing 200 low-income Boulder households with $500 per month from January 2024 to December 2025. This assistance is unconditional and unrestricted; meaning it can be used how participants choose, and they don’t have to do anything in return.
Evaluation survey data shows that Elevate Boulder participants experienced profound benefits from the direct cash assistance: more food security and less hunger; the ability to pay rent and utilities on time, helping keep participants and their families housed; significantly less stress and anxiety; better overall health; and advancement of education and job training opportunities that can lead to longer-term financial stability.
With support from the Community Foundation Boulder County, the city and a team of professional storytellers worked with Elevate Boulder participants to help them tell their stories and share the impact of the project in their own words and images.
Support Elevate Boulder
Video and Photovoice Storytelling
Erin Preston Productions and Colibri Communications engaged participants and community leaders to document experiences through video interviews and creative photograph storytelling. Visit the Video and Photovoice Story webpage to view all video and photovoice stories.
Narrative Performance
Six participants worked with Motus Theater to write, edit and perform their autobiographical stories on stage in front of a live audience, accompanied by live music.
Written Stories
Writing can be a powerful experience for the storyteller and reader. Participants attended an in-person workshop to create an essay, non-fiction or poetry piece. Click the link below to read all participant-written stories.
Saving for tomorrow feels crazy when you don’t have enough for today. Because of Elevate Boulder, I have hope.
Audio Stories
The participants who participated in the written storytelling exercise also had the opportunity to record a podcast with Rossana Longo Better.
Having a Little Extra Money, Kellie
When do you ever have a couple of extra thousand dollars laying around when you work at a nonprofit and live in Boulder?
I have so many blessings, and I’m not ungrateful. But having a little breathing room… it made a huge difference.
My son went to prom, and it felt so good to hand him my credit card when he was going to dinner and tell him to have a good time—not to worry, not to say, “You can only spend this much,” or, “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
Things I’m not normally able to do for him came a lot easier. And that’s nice.