In my role at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, I worked with Groundcover News to produce a special issue on the gig economy that invited participants in Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) to contribute columns about their experiences receiving monthly guaranteed income payments. The special issue of the paper also included interviews with the researchers who designed and are evaluating the guaranteed income pilot, which is aimed at gig workers and entrepreneurs with low incomes. The newspaper was sold by Groundcover vendors, who are themselves gig workers impacted by poverty.
I pitched the idea for the special issue to Groundcover and worked with the editor to develop the content plan. I co-authored a letter from the editor on the role of gig work in helping people make ends meet in a city with a relatively high cost of living. I managed the budget for the project, which included printing costs and stipends for writers. I helped plan a related event and developed the promotional strategy.
Goals
- Foster a community conversation about gig work in Ann Arbor and the impact of guaranteed income
- Give guaranteed income recipients and other gig workers space to share their experiences in their own words
- Report back to Ann Arbor residents and city officials on the status of the guaranteed income pilot, which city council approved based on residents’ priorities for how to spend one-time federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Audiences & Action Steps
Target audiences for the special issue of the newspaper and a related community event included:
- Ann Arbor city council and other city officials, who approved the guaranteed income pilot and want to know what impact it is having
- Ann Arbor residents who have varying levels of familiarity and support for guaranteed income as a concept as well as their community’s pilot program
- GIG A2 participants and other gig workers who want to see their experiences acknowledged by their community
- Funders, economic development organizations, and others who could run or support guaranteed income programs
- University of Michigan networks, including students who worked on the pilot program and faculty studying topics related to guaranteed income, poverty alleviation, workforce development, and social work
The Rollout
The special issue of Groundcover was published in May 2025 and available for sale for one month. It was the best seller of the year up to that point.
Poverty Solutions and Groundcover co-hosted a community conversation on what difference guaranteed income makes for Ann Arbor gig workers. The event drew about 25 community members and included a panel discussion with two of the researchers overseeing the study, a GIG A2 participant, a gig worker who is not receiving the monthly payments, and the former city council member who championed the pilot proposal. My media outreach prior to the event resulted in coverage from The Ann Arbor News / MLive.
I oversaw the creation of a story recapping the event and social media posts that promoted the special issue of Groundcover, previewed the event, the event recap, and then shared a digital issue of the newspaper after street sales ended. I also delivered copies of the newspaper with handwritten notes to city and county officials to ensure they read it.
The Response
The special issue of the newspaper – and getting to read guaranteed income recipients’ stories – generated interest in the pilot program from city officials who had not responded to previous attempts to engage them. The city’s economic development director requested a meeting with the lead researcher, and the city administrator invited the lead researcher to present preliminary research findings to city council at a work session. That presentation resulted in media coverage from three news outlets.
People associated with guaranteed income programs in Florida and Massachusetts shared social media posts about the Groundcover special issue.
Lauren Slagter 