CLEVELAND — During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Cleveland and the United Way of Greater Cleveland announced the launch of the nation's first Universal Basic Employment program.
UBE Founder and CEO Devin Cotten said the program will tackle poverty by giving people a job that pays $50,000 per year with benefits.
After years of working in community development and watching Cleveland residents and businesses struggle to make ends meet, he decided to create a different approach.
The concept is to redirect some funding from social services to workers' wages.
Cleveland City Council approved $600,000 to fund the two-year research and design phase of developing the program during their meeting last Monday.
The United Way is helping raise $21 million to pay workers.
The program will then place 100 Cleveland residents in a job with a $50,000 salary for three years.
Cleveland is one of the poorest largest cities in the U.S., according to U.S Census Bureau data.
Cotten's ultimate goal is to expand the UBE program beyond Cleveland and make it available to people nationwide.
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