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2 GROUNDCOVER NEWS GROUNDCOVER from the joint desk of GROUNDCOVER + GIG A2 You have to hustle to live in Ann Arbor — especially if you’re in the service industry, working a low-wage job, or can’t do a traditional 9-to-5 because of your family situation, health issues or other circumstances. More and more people are turning to gig work, side hustles and entrepreneurship to try to make ends meet when traditional employment isn’t cutting it. This isn’t just an aphorism, but a reality in our community — backed by the qualitative and quantitative evidence presented in this themed edition on the gig economy. To afford Ann Arbor’s cost of living, an adult with one child would need to make about $41 an hour, or $85,900 a year, according to MIT’s living wage calculator. While Ann Arbor is one of the most affluent cities in Michigan, 23% of residents — almost 27,500 people — live in poverty. Traditional public assistance programs can help those with the greatest needs. But food stamps, housing vouchers, disability insurance and public health insurance come with complicated eligibility criteria and restrictions on how the assistance can be used. Often, recipients are threatened with “making too much;” making a few dollars over the eligibility threshold results in hundreds of assistance dollars lost. These harsh eligibility requirements serve to trap people in poverty, instead of lifting them out of it. Guaranteed income offers a different approach. Guaranteed income is growing in popularity, with pilot programs popping up across the United States to test this form of cash assistance as a supplement to traditional welfare programs. The idea of guaranteed income at its core suggests that income is a solution to poverty, that economic autonomy is a means to a better life. Because of this, Groundcover News and Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor have worked together since the start. Groundcover News is one of the few organizations locally that connects self-determined, low-income people to money. Yes, selling and writing for Groundcover News is a job — but when it comes to flexibility and instability, working for Groundcover News offers the same benefits and challenges as other gig work. We believe entrepreneurial work inspires creativity, purpose, pride, personal growth and empowerment. We believe gig workers make Ann Arbor a better place to live. The City of Ann Arbor is using this no-strings-attached form of cash assistance to support entrepreneurs, gig workers and self-employed workers with low incomes who live in the city. Ann Arbor’s guaranteed income pilot recognizes the ways the pandemic changed people’s relationship to work and the important ways that entrepreneurs and gig workers are already contributing to the local economy. Together, we’re exploring what difference guaranteed income makes for these entrepreneurs and whether the idea is worth expanding. This themed edition on the gig economy is an invitation to think about guaranteed income and gig workers and get access to local research in a accessible way. Talk with your vendor about the struggles and joys of gig work. Come to our community conversation on Thursday, May 8, 5:30 - 7 p.m. to share and learn more about what it might take to graduate this pilot into something bigger (more information on the graphic on page 3). Advocate if you want to see this program continued. Look out for the research pilot’s final findings in 2026. MAY 2, 2025 PROVIDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR SELF-DETERMINED INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED BY POVERTY, PRODUCING A STREET NEWSPAPER THAT GIVES A PLATFORM TO UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES IN WASHTENAW COUNTY, PROMOTING AN ACTION TO BUILD A JUST, CARING AND INCLUSIVE SOCIETY. Groundcover News, a 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in April 2010 as a means to empower lowincome persons to make the transitions from homeless to housed, and from jobless to employed. Vendors purchase each copy of our regular editions of Groundcover News at our office for 50 cents. This money goes towards production costs. Vendors work selling the paper on the street for $2, keeping all income and tips from each sale. Street papers like Groundcover News exist in cities all over the United States, as well as in more than 40 other countries, in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of homeless people and combat the increase in poverty. Our paper is a proud member of the International Network of Street Papers. STAFF Lindsay Calka — publisher Cynthia Price — editor ISSUE CONTRIBUTORS Anonymous GIG A2 Participants Roberto Isla Caballero Pedro Campos Jim Clark Henry Mike Jones Marisol June Miller Ms. Artist Scoop Stevens Joe Woods COVER PHOTOS Barry Chatillion GROUNDCOVER NEWS ADVERTISING RATES Size 1/8 1/6 1/4 1/2 full page Black/White $110.00 $145.00 $200.00 $375.00 $650.00 Color $150.00 $200.00 $265.00 $500.00 $900.00 Dimensions (W x H in inches) 5 X 3 or 2.5 X 6.5 5 X 4 5 X 6.25 5 X 13 or 10.25 X 6.5 10.25 X 13 PROOFREADERS Susan Beckett Steve Ross Anabel Sicko Allison Wei VOLUNTEERS Jane Atkins Jessi Averill Sim Bose Jud Branam Luiza Duarte Caetano Jacob Fallman Glenn Gates Bella Martinez Robert Klingler Ari Ruczynski Jack Weinberg Mary Wisgerhof Max Wisgerhof Melanie Wenzel CONTACT US Story and photo submissions: submissions@groundcovernews.com Advertising and partnerships: contact@groundcovernews.com Office: 423 S. 4th Ave., Ann Arbor Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Phone: 734-263-2098 @groundcover @groundcovernews DONATE, LISTEN TO OLD ISSUES + LEARN MORE www.groundcovernews.org PACKAGE PRICING Three Months/Six Issues: 15% off Six Months/Twelve Issues: 25% off Full Year/Twenty-four Issues: 35% off Only run for two weeks/one issue: 40% off Additional 20% discount for money saving coupons

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