Marlon Regis

Currently, I live with my cousin. I’m single and divorced, with an 8-year-old daughter, Zania, in Florida. We visit each other when we can, but it’s challenging. I’ve been part of a fellowship for software engineering with a nonprofit supporting underrepresented individuals in tech. The journey has been tough, with many of us starting and only a few remaining. It’s a year-long program every weekday, and it’s unpaid. The hope is that I’ll be able to secure a well-paying job in tech once I’m done, but it is not easy to spend so much time on something that I’m not being compensated for. I’m thinking of it as an investment in my future.

To make ends meet, I DJ on the weekends. It helps, but it’s not a significant amount of income. I’ve gotta be honest that things have gotten harder for me financially since the Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY) payments ended late last year. They were nothing short of a lifeline, especially after my unemployment benefits ended, which unfortunately happened within a few weeks of CRNY ending. 

I initially found out about the program through a chat group I have going with some folks I went to high school with. This guy posted a screenshot of an article announcing the program and that they were currently recruiting recipients, and I didn’t really pay it any mind at first. Then I started to get more curious about it, and did some research online and was impressed that they were open to so many types of art — mine is primarily music and writing — and that they weren’t asking you to jump through a bunch of hoops to qualify. It was basically, “do you do something in the arts?” “do you have a link to some of your work?” I met the income threshold, so I went ahead and applied. I figured, why not? I apply, I get rejected, it’s not like I really lost anything. 

But I didn’t get rejected. And it really could not have come at a better time — I was just going through a lot. Everyone in the house I lived in was moving out and that meant I was getting pushed out too. That money could not have come faster. I felt kind of ungrateful at the time because I was so desperate and impatient for it to come in. But it arrived, and it was like the universe was really on my side because at the same time I also got some more arts work. It really turned things around for me, because it had been a hard time. Mentally and physically, the struggle took its toll, especially after a divorce.

Before joining the CRNY program, my income wasn’t much and came mostly from freelance copywriting, deliveries, and Lyft driving. Despite being street-savvy and knowing how to manage bills and credit card payments, travel expenses to see my daughter in Florida were difficult. There were times I wanted to see her before the program that I couldn’t afford to. 

The impact of CRNY on my life has been profound. It provided me with mental freedom and the ability to focus on my art. Knowing I had a reliable income motivated me to supplement it with odd jobs, trying to preserve as much of the CRNY money as possible. The stability allowed me to plan trips to see my daughter, ensuring I could be there for her birthday. Being able to see her without stressing about the cost of a ticket was invaluable. I know she misses me, and it’s only becoming more pronounced as she gets older. A couple years ago when I’d be getting ready to leave it wasn’t that big of a deal. Now, she gets quiet when we’re on the way to the airport when I’m leaving. She doesn’t want to talk, which is hard but I understand. She’s trying to protect her feelings. I haven’t been able to see her as much since the CRNY program stopped, which is the hardest part of the money ending for me.

But I have nothing but appreciation for this program. Receiving this money shifted my sense of financial competence. It gave me time to breathe, create, and explore opportunities without the constant pressure of financial survival. This program isn’t about making people stop working; it’s about giving them the freedom to create and contribute meaningfully. I find the idea that people don’t want to work just ridiculous, especially for artists. You can’t stop an artist from creating. Making sure they’re financially secure is just going to give them more time to focus on their art, it’s never going to keep them from doing it. 

And the way that CRNY was operated is so different from other support out there. I get SNAP benefits, but the process was messy and exhausting, and then there was some kind of out-of-state theft on my card the day my benefits landed so I couldn’t buy groceries. SNAP is a help, but it’s also stressful. CRNY was just pure help. The folks who run it, you can tell they really care about all of us. They didn’t look down on us, they wanted us to succeed. The way CRNY was run, with genuine care and minimal bureaucracy, showed the love and dedication of the organizers. It was all good vibes.

And my story may not be the most dramatic, but for some folks it literally saved their lives. We had a gathering with some of the artists, and one guy was talking about how he went to the Brooklyn Bridge. He was going to jump off, he was so distraught about his career and financial worries. He checked his phone and saw he’d gotten into the program, and he stepped off the ledge. That’s powerful. 

If it can do that for people, I am sure that if programs like this were available nationwide, the positive impact would be immense. I know the politicians, who are all beholden to their corporate donors, say that people would take advantage of it. Sure, maybe that would happen once in a while. So what? Corporations are constantly milking the system and costing so much money, but where is the outrage about that? I know the benefits would outweigh any of these made-up critiques. It’s not like anyone in these programs is getting a million dollars, it’s just enough to get by, to cause a critical mental shift. 

Time is money. And the time CRNY created allowed people to spend time with family, creating — that’s what it is when people get money. It gives people the opportunity to wake up and be inspired, to create and build meaningful lives and contribute. We need more of that in this world. 

Essay by: Marlon Regis