Thousands of D.C. families will get an unexpected check this month as they prepare to send their children back to school.
"We’re hear to make a fantastic announcement," D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Thursday at a hiring event at the Frederick Douglass Community Center.
Bowser said that more than 15,000 low-income families in D.C. will receive a one-time check for about $1,000.
The announcement was fantastic news to Natasha Dortch, a single mother of five.
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"I wanted to cry. I’m a crier. So, it's very heartwarming to hear D.C. is still trying to help us," Dortch said.
Dortch served two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army. She said when she returned to the States, she found it difficult to get a job and she and her children became homeless.
"Pandemic kinda set back lot of people back, including me," she said. "I didn’t serve my country to have to come home and get on assistance. That’s not what I had planned for myself."
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D.C. is using about $14 million in federal pandemic relief funds and dividing it amongst the 15,000 families who are currently receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF.
"Back to school is another stressful check-in that we're doing with families, and it's so so critical that our kids get off to the right start at school. We know that we're going to spend several years making up for the disconnect of kids from school because of COVID," Bowser said. "Everything that we can do to support kids, schools and families is just gonna help a little bit more."
Families can use the money for anything they need.
"That thousand dollars is gonna help me out, really, a lot. Shoes, uniforms, extra supplies - just everything - haircuts," Dortch said.
Families enrolled in TANF will automatically receive the money by the end of August, the mayor's office said.
