Relief checks for up to $400 in May 2023: Who qualifies?

Some residents in Chelsea, Massachusetts will receive a relief check of up to $400 on May 15. It will be the third and final payment of a food and utility subsidy program which distributed the first two on March 15 and April 15.

The project, known as the Chelsea Eats program, is sending the checks ranging from $200 to $400 to 738 eligible households. The recipients have been receiving the subsidy through debit cards which were handed out in March.

Relief check amount dependent on household size

The initiative issues varying amounts depending on the size of the household. A one-member household would receive $200, a household of two would get $300, and those with three or more people would collect $400.

There are some qualifications to avail of the benefit. First of all, families had to have been Chelsea residents with a combined household income that was 30% less than the average in the area. One-member households must have earned less than $29,450, while households of two should have earned below $33,650 to be eligible for the program. The threshold goes up for every additional household member.

READ ALSO:

Chelsea Eats: From food distribution to guaranteed income

The city of Chelsea began the guaranteed-income program at the height of the covid-19 pandemic, and it was the largest project of the sort in the country at the time.

It was born of a desire to shift the government’s efforts from food distribution to sending money directly to the residents who needed aid. Recipients were free to spend the money as they wished, and they could use the debit cards almost anywhere.

A Harvard study found that the majority of the funds handed out were spent on food.