Emergency Assistance & Community Resources

Roshan Pourghasemi

In this article we’ll cover:

  • For people who are struggling to make it to the end of a paycheck or had a serious event happen, where can they go for help?

  • Rental/mortgage assistance at state and municipal level

  • Help with utilities

  • Findhelp.org

  • 211

What NOT to Do

Before we talk about the avenues you should take, let me warn you about some of the options that seem attractive at first glance. Both payday loans and title loans care very little about credit history and will happily give you a sum of money, but they have massive drawbacks.

A payday loan is a type of short-term (typically 30 days) borrowing from a lender that is accompanied by an extremely high interest rate and can be considered a type of predatory lending. Usually, a payday lender will take a portion of your next paycheck as the principal payment on the loan. Since they don’t check your ability to pay back the loan, they take on a lot of risk and thus charge especially high interest rates and hidden fees. Payday loans have had a number of laws put into place over the years to restrict them, with a fair amount of states outright making them illegal. Payday lenders make money by preying on vulnerable borrowers and trap them in a cycle of taking out new loans to pay off their previous loans. They may seem like an attractive option at first glance, but you should only look at them when you’ve exhausted all your other options. Even then, do extensive research on how payday loans work in your state before you commit to one.

Title loans are similar to payday loans in that they are also a type of short-term borrowing that has extremely high interest rates. The difference, however, is that, to take out a title loan, you have put your car on the line as collateral, meaning your car can be repoed if you do not pay back your loan. Title loan companies make the most money off of people who continually have to take out new loans to pay off old ones, and 20% of title loan borrowers end up with cars seized. Both payday loans and title loans should be treated as a last resort.

Avenues for Relief

The best way to cure an illness is to not be sick in the first place. Along a similar vein, the best way to avoid struggling to pay your bills when something goes wrong is to make an emergency fund. Still, it is difficult to make an emergency fund when you’re living paycheck to paycheck and about one third of Americans do not have $400 in emergency cash.

Whether you need help with housing bills, utility bills, or credit card bills, there are options in place to help you.

211

211 is a national hotline, similar to 911, that is designed to give you access to local social services and other forms of assistance. When you dial this number, you can get connected with organizations across the local, state, and federal level all designed to help alleviate some of your financial burden.

211 offers more than just financial assistance, as they can help people struggling with mental illness, domestic violence issues, and many other common problems. 211 is also backed by a plethora of nonprofit organizations, both on the local and national levels. In general, there are many nonprofit organizations put in place to help, and it is worth looking into local nonprofits if you fall behind on your bills, as well.

Findhelp.org is a website dedicated to helping struggling families get access to food assistance, help paying the bills, and other free or reduced cost programs. Findhelp.org is designed to give easy access to many organizations in your area. When you put in your zip code, it connects you to many organizations in your area that are put in place to help struggling families, broken down by category of the specific assistance you need. There is no cost associated with using their service, as well. Findhelp and 211 are great programs for general help, but there are programs put in place for specific bills as well.

LIHEAP and LIHWAP

When you fall behind on your utility bills, the first thing you should do is let your utility providers know. Mainly to not disconnect your service, but, more often than not, they will have programs in place to help. Also, you can try and negotiate a payment plan that will help alleviate the financial burden or a waiver to try to lose liability for the payment. After that, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a federal program put in place to help families who can’t afford to pay their energy bills. The Low Income Home Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) is a similar program made for water bill assistance.

Credit Cards

Credit cards can be a convenient way to cover expenses, but they can also be another payment you can fall behind on. When that happens, you should call your credit card company and see if they have any financial hardship programs available. Some of the possible benefits they can offer are temporary fee waivers, interest rate reductions, monthly payment reductions, and many more.

CARES Act

If you can’t pay rent, that puts you at risk for eviction, but that process takes time and the landlord must seek legal action. There was pandemic-related legislation under the CARES Act that extended forbearance for rent, but the Supreme Court rejected to extend it on October 3rd 2021. Still, there is help available. Renters in need of help should consult the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s website, which has a searchable list of all the programs currently available. You should also call 211 or look on Findhelp.org for help at the local, state, and federal level. If you can’t find help there, speak with your landlord and try to set up a payment plan to catch up.


For homeowners, however, the CARES act allows up to 18 months of suspended housing payments without accruing fees, penalties, and interest for eligible families. If you aren’t eligible for the pandemic-related legislation, your mortgage lender will have forbearance programs put in place to help suspend payments temporarily. You can also negotiate with them and restructure your loan to make payments more affordable. If neither of these options pan out, you can try refinancing your home, but that usually requires a good credit score and proof of income, making it difficult if you recently lost your job. 211 and Findhelp also have many associated programs designed to assist homeowners.

Key Takeaways

  • Findhelp.org is a website designed to connect struggling families with local organizations that provide financial assistance.

  • 211 is a hotline that connects you with nonprofits and social services for many common problems, including financial assistance.

  • There are government programs, like LIHEAP and LIHWAP, put in place to help families struggling with utility bills.

  • The CARES Act can help homeowners that qualify for pandemic-related issues.

  • Payday loans and title loans are types of predatory lending that should generally be avoided.