Check for Us: Micro cash Grants
Micro Cash Grants are small, flexible, no-strings-attached cash awards provided to transition-age youth and kinship caregivers through the CheckForUs platform. Participants complete a survey sharing real information about their needs, experiences, and interactions with systems — and in return, they receive direct funding they can use however they see fit.
Micro Cash Grants are built on a principle of reciprocity. Young people and kinship caregivers are the experts of their own lives. When they share that expertise with us, we show up in return. What they tell us shapes everything we build.
Reciprocity
Honor the time, trust, and vulnerability it takes to share personal experiences — with real, tangible value in return.
Surface Real-Time Signals
Capture data directly from the people navigating systems — revealing where services fail, what is missing, and what is needed most.
Connect to Resources
Use what participants share to connect them to relevant services, supports, and follow-up — beyond the grant itself.
Inform System Change
Aggregate insights from grant applications to identify systemic gaps, barriers, and patterns that drive policy and practice improvements.
Think of Us deploys Micro Cash Grants nationally through CheckForUs to transition-age youth and kinship caregivers across participating communities.
Participants complete a survey about their current needs and circumstances — a process designed to capture the nuances of their experiences navigating local systems. In return, they receive flexible, no-strings-attached funding and, where desired, tailored resource recommendations based on what they have shared.
In one example, our deployment in Texas Region 7 (Greater Austin and surrounding communities) has already disbursed $12,000+ in direct cash assistance to young people. Every application generates data that helps Think of Us understand where systems are falling short — and what to build next.