Liberators in Action: Rx Kids, Flint MI

Everywhere we look, children’s programs are being slashed—health, food, education, care. The cuts are staggering, and the message to families has too often been: you’re on your own. But in Flint, Michigan, a community that knows hardship all too well, something else is happening. Here, a program called Rx Kids is saying with both hands open: you’re not alone, and your children deserve to start life with dignity.

Launched by local doctors and researchers, Rx Kids gives every pregnant woman $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 each month through a baby’s first year. The idea is simple but radical in the United States: invest in children from the very beginning when families are most stretched financially and where a helping hand contributes most toward healthy development. Already, families are reporting less stress, better health outcomes, and even fewer babies in neonatal intensive care.

What makes this program so powerful beyond the financial support is the liberation it represents. Rx Kids frees pregnant women from the crushing expenses they often must shoulder alone—the impossible choices between diapers, food, rent, or rest. This is heart-centered community standing up to say: our babies will not be born into poverty, not if we can help it.

Read about the Rx Kids program, its founders, and the families it's helping here.