Pregnant women and babies in the eastern Upper Peninsula will now get cash aid, no strings attached, starting next month.
The Rx Kids program, which originated in Flint last year and recently expanded to Kalamazoo, uses both public and private funding to provide direct assistance to families during their baby’s first year.
The Upper Peninsula version will give pregnant moms $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 a month for the baby’s first six months. It will be available to families on March 3, 2025 and for babies born after March 1, 2025 in Luce, Mackinac, Alger, Schoolcraft, and Chippewa counties.
Haley Stewart is a mom of three in Sault Ste. Marie, and is 36 weeks pregnant.
“We're so thankful that this is something that is new and will help so many more people than even just my family,” Stewart said at a virtual press conference Friday. “I have a couple of friends that are pregnant and when I mentioned it to them, they all started crying, which I'm trying to stop myself from crying currently. It just means so much.”
Stewart said her family initially couldn’t afford for her husband to take any time off after the baby’s birth.
“Now my husband's actually going to be able to take a week off of work to help me at home, and be able to do the things like take my son to school. And if there's any bills that need to be paid, we're going to be able to do that still, without having to worry about his check and not being there for that week that he's not going to be at work.”
In Flint, more than $6 million dollars has been given to some 1,440 families since the program began last year. Billed as the first-ever citywide cash aid program for pregnant moms and babies, Rx Kids gives Flint residents $500 a month for the baby’s first full year, as well as the $1,500 in pregnancy. There are no income limits, and nearly every Flint baby born since the program launched is enrolled, according to the program’s organizers.
“Rx Kids supports moms and babies when they need it most, during the time of acute economic hardship,” said Rx Kids director Dr. Mona Hanna, the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Associate Dean of Public Health. The pediatrician is also known nationally for her role in helping uncover elevated lead levels in Flint kids during the city’s water crisis.
Pregnancy and childbirth is often a difficult time for families financially, Hanna said, and a crucial period for child development.
“In our second year in Flint, we are also adding to that evidence. We are already seeing a real impact on key indicators like economic security. We've had no evictions in low income families in Flint.”
Researchers following the program have also seen improved health care access and better infant and maternal health, Hanna said.
Rx Kids has raised enough money to fund two years of the program in the eastern Upper Peninsula, Hanna said, and expects to serve about 600 families per year, based on the annual birth records for the area.
“So many of our families up here live paycheck to paycheck,” said Sault Tribe chairman Austin Lowes. “And if they miss a couple of paychecks, it's a hole that's so difficult to climb out of. So, being able to have this cash assistance will help so many of our people.”
In Kalamazoo, infants born on or after February 1, 2025, and expectant mothers who live in the city of Kalamazoo are eligible to apply for the city’s version of the program. So far, some 232 people in the city have applied, organizers said.
