Families in three more Kalamazoo County communities can now enroll in Rx Kids, the maternal and infant cash prescription program that launched in the City of Kalamazoo in February 2025. Enrollment opened this week for residents of the City of Galesburg, Oshtemo Township, and Wakeshma Township.
Eligible families will receive $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 per month for the first year of a child’s life. To enroll, participants must be at least 16 weeks pregnant, or have a newborn born on or after June 1, 2026. Enrollment is available at RxKids.org. The application takes less than 20 minutes, can be completed on a phone, computer, or tablet, and is available in multiple languages.
The expansion is funded through a combination of State of Michigan dollars, the Stryker Johnston Foundation, and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, which will also continue to serve as local fiduciary. Cradle Kalamazoo, which has served as the community champion lead for the City of Kalamazoo program, is extending its outreach and engagement role to the new communities. The three new communities will participate in the prenatal-plus-12-month version of the program, reaching approximately 280 births each year.
What the Program Does
Rx Kids is a place-based program designed to address the economic pressure families face during pregnancy and early infancy, a period when income often drops and expenses rise for families without paid leave. Speaking at the launch event, Dr. Mona Hanna, the program’s founding director, put it plainly: “50% of moms have to go back to work in this country at two weeks of age. It’s just wild that we don’t care about mamas and babies — but we are changing it.”
Direct support helps cover essentials like diapers, formula, rent, and transportation to prenatal care. Dr. Hanna noted that diapers alone cost about $100 a month.
The program is led by Michigan State University and administered by GiveDirectly, which has delivered more than $332 million in cash transfers in the United States since 2017. Hannah Ecker, GiveDirectly’s Southwest Michigan program associate, described the application and payment process as built around a “recipients first” philosophy. “These are not far away administrators processing paperwork,” she said. “We are your neighbors.”
What the Research Shows
A peer-reviewed study published last week in The Lancet Public Health found that in Flint, where Rx Kids launched as a proof of concept, the program was associated with significant reductions in preterm birth, low birthweight, and NICU admissions. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics found a 32% reduction in child welfare involvement among infants in families receiving support. Additional research has found improvements in family financial stability and maternal mental health, and an Upjohn Institute analysis found the program generates local economic benefits as families spend on essentials in their communities.
Rep. Matt Longjohn, a preventive medicine physician and state legislator, noted at the event that even those numbers likely understate the program’s value. “You’re only looking at a year or two of data,” he said. “The downstream effects, the ripple effects — are not being measured yet. We have to take a longer view to know where the return on investment actually will lie. And I strongly suspect the return on investment is much higher than we’re currently seeing.”
“It’s Too Damn Hard”
Longjohn connected the program directly to the economic pressures families are facing right now. “It’s too damn hard to pay for a gallon of gas right now. It’s too damn hard to pay for childcare right now. It’s too damn hard to pay for rent. It’s too damn hard to pay for diapers. And unfortunately, with inflation numbers being reported this week and the cost of things continuing to rise, the end is not in sight for a lot of those factors.”
He closed with a framing he said he was confident in despite the state’s current budget pressures: “We cannot cut our way to better communities, to stronger families, to healthier children. We have to make smarter, wiser, targeted investments.”
Rep. Julie Rogers, who helped champion a maternal and infant health equity package through the state legislature, described what her team encountered while knocking on 9,000 doors in her district to spread the word about Rx Kids last summer. “We knocked on couples’ doors that were waiting to conceive because they couldn’t afford to have a baby,” she said. “And the tears of joy in their eyes when we shared this wonderful news was priceless.”
A Local Voice
The final speaker at the launch event was Naisha Wright, director of community outreach at Cradle Kalamazoo, and, as she told the crowd, an Rx Kids recipient herself.
Wright described being seven months pregnant and having to move abruptly. “That initial payment assisted a lot,” she said. The monthly payments that followed helped cover diapers, daycare, and allowed her to open a savings account for her son when he was a month old. “Having a child, no matter how much money you make, the resources you have, and the assistance you have — it is a financial hardship,” Wright said. “And that $500 definitely did provide me a little cushion.”
Her son Shiloh, present throughout the event, drew repeated laughs from the crowd as he vocalized his way through multiple speakers’ remarks.
Statewide Context
Today’s launch is part of a broader expansion announced by Governor Gretchen Whitmer that will bring Rx Kids to more than 60 communities statewide, reaching over 23,000 births per year. Enrollment also opened this week in Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, the City of Jackson, and Blackman Charter Township.
Families in Galesburg, Oshtemo Township, and Wakeshma Township can learn more and enroll at RxKids.org.
PMN covered the Rx Kids expansion launch event on behalf of Kalamazoo County communities. Make a donation to help provide civic news and information, or get involved.
