Zilber launches cash program for pregnant women in Milwaukee

In an innovative collaboration, the Zilber Family Foundation and The Bridge Project have introduced Milwaukee’s first unconditional cash program. Its aim is to empower low-income pregnant people. This initiative will provide 100 eligible participants with direct financial assistance to support their needs during the crucial early stages of their baby’s life. 

 “This represents a significant step towards increasing economic mobility, addressing childhood poverty, and supporting family stability in our community,” said Gina Stilp, Executive Director of the Zilber Family Foundation. “By providing direct financial support, we’re not only assisting families in need but seeking to interrupt cycles of generational poverty and reduce racial inequity.” 

Eligible participants must be 18 years or older; 23 weeks pregnant or less at the time of application; live in 53204, 53205, 53206, or 53215 with priority in Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square, or Layton Boulevard West neighborhoods; and have an annual household income of less than $39,000 USD. 

Applications for the program will open on April 10, 2024, and participants will be selected by lottery. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis for eligibility and will remain open until all slots are filled. 

Eligible Milwaukee participants will receive: 

• $1,125 one-time, upfront prenatal stipend 
• $750 per month for the first 15 months of program participation 
• $375 per month for the remaining 9 months of program participation 

In Wisconsin, 1 in 7 children live in poverty, and Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, contends with the second-highest poverty rate among the top 50 most populated cities in the US. In the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative (ZNI) neighborhoods of Lindsay Heights, Clarke Square, and Layton Boulevard West, 44% of children live in poverty. 

This investment in Milwaukee made possible by philanthropic funding from the Zilber Family Foundation and support from The Monarch Foundation, The Bridge Project’s expansion represents its first program outside of New York. Early indicators from The Bridge Project in other cities has demonstrated that direct financial support enhances family stability and community health by enabling adult caregivers to afford basic needs and build emergency savings. 

Launched in New York in 2021 by the Monarch Foundation, The Bridge Project invests directly and flexibly in early childhood with the aim to break the cycle of stress and poverty passed down generationally and to enhance socioeconomic mobility of families.