How help with money and benefits works in AtlantaA short guide: who to call first and what to expect.
For a bill you can't pay this month, call 211, or text your ZIP code to 898-211. Ask what is open right now, because small funds at churches and nonprofits open and close as money comes in. Each usually pays part of one bill, one time, and most serve only certain ZIP codes. St. Vincent de Paul Georgia and the Salvation Army are two of the largest. Have a photo ID, the bill and proof of income ready as photos on your phone. See emergency funds.
For monthly benefits, one application at gateway.ga.gov covers SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, cash help for families with children, and child care help. You can also call 877-423-4746. Applying is free, and anyone who charges you to apply is running a scam. See benefits screening.
At tax time, volunteers trained by the IRS do your taxes for free if your income is low or moderate. To find a free tax site near you, call the IRS at 800-906-9887. If you worked and your income is low, the Earned Income Tax Credit can come to thousands of dollars, and you get it only if you file. See free tax help.
For debt and credit, a nonprofit credit counselor looks at your bills with you for free. Operation HOPE and Money Management International both do this. Stay away from title pawn loans. The interest is so high that many people lose their cars.
For a hospital bill, ask the billing office for its financial assistance form. Nonprofit hospitals must have one, and it can cut the bill or erase it.
For Social Security or disability payments, call 800-772-1213.
Georgia's Division of Family and Children Services is a state agency that works to keep children safe. Staff look into reports of child abuse and neglect and work with the family. The agency also helps with foster care and with food, cash, health coverage, and child care benefits.
1st Choice Credit Union is a member-owned credit union with its main office at 315 Auburn Avenue in Atlanta and a branch inside Grady Memorial Hospital. It offers checking and savings accounts, personal and auto loans, and free money coaching. Its website says a merger with HOPE is underway.
The HUB is a website built by the Urban League of Greater Atlanta to help people buy and keep a home, with a focus on communities of color. You can ask to meet with a HUD-certified housing counselor, join homebuyer and credit webinars, learn about down payment help, and browse a directory of lenders, agents, inspectors and builders.
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta is a cooperative bank owned by its member banks and other financial institutions. It gives those members loans and grant money so they can offer home-buying help, home repair help and affordable housing projects. People cannot get the money straight from the bank. They go through a member lender in their area.
Operation HOPE is a national nonprofit with its main office in Atlanta. Its coaches give free money coaching and classes on credit, buying a first home, starting a small business, and getting back on your feet after a disaster. It also runs money programs for young people.
Emmaus House is a nonprofit in the Peoplestown neighborhood of Atlanta. Its Lokey Help Center at 27 Haygood Ave SW gives out groceries and helps with rent and utility bills, Georgia ID vouchers, SNAP and Social Security applications, and more. It also runs summer reading, youth and family, job training, and case management programs.
Central Outreach and Advocacy Center is a downtown Atlanta nonprofit that helps adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Staff help with IDs, birth certificates, Social Security cards, food stamps, Medicaid, SSI/SSDI, and job readiness classes. Partner groups also come on site for health care, eye clinics, and more.
POWER Atlanta is a nonprofit in Atlanta's West End. It runs a free food, hygiene and clothing pantry, a clinic with HIV and STI testing, and a center that helps people with health insurance, public benefits and housing referrals. It also offers money and job training, youth programs, and support for people hurt by violence.
NACA is a national housing group that helps people buy a home and keep it. It teaches free classes, gives one-on-one counseling, and offers a home loan with no down payment, no closing costs and no fees. Homeowners who struggle with their payment can ask NACA to work with their lender for a lower payment.
This is Georgia's Crime Victims Compensation Program, part of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. It helps people hurt by violent crime pay for medical bills, counseling, funeral costs, lost income or support, and crime scene cleanup, up to $25,000 per victim. You can apply online or by mail.
Trans Housing Atlanta Program helps transgender and non-binary people in metro Atlanta who have no stable home. If you are approved, they can give up to $500 a year toward housing costs like rent or utilities. A case manager can also help you find other help, like SNAP and HOPWA.
Partnership for Community Action is a nonprofit that helps low-income families in DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale and Newton counties. It can help with emergency needs like rent, mortgage, utilities and emergency lodging, and with home heating and cooling bills when those programs are open. It also has a diaper program for families.
The Kristine Pettoni Foundation offers a 12-month program called Budget for Life. It teaches money skills to help individuals and families become financially stable.
Empowerline is run by the Atlanta Regional Commission. It helps older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers in metro Atlanta. You can call and talk to a certified counselor for free, or search a database of local services.
The Urban League of Greater Atlanta has worked in metro Atlanta since 1920. Its Financial Empowerment & Economic Resilience Center is a one-stop place for emergency help with rent and bills, jobs, housing, small business help and money coaching. It also runs programs for young people and a water bill help program for DeKalb County.
Georgia DFCS is the state agency for family and children's services. On its website and in Georgia Gateway you can start applications for food stamps (SNAP), Medicaid, cash help (TANF), and energy help. It also takes reports of child abuse and works with foster and adoptive families.
Inspiritus (once called Lutheran Services of Georgia) helps people whose lives have been upended. It helps new refugees and immigrants settle in, find jobs and get legal help. It also finds foster homes for children with serious medical or behavior needs, and host homes for people with developmental disabilities. After natural disasters, it helps families rebuild.
Hosea Helps is an Atlanta nonprofit that has served the community since 1971. At its Forrest Hills Drive headquarters, families can get free emergency groceries and help applying for food stamps. Staff also check whether a household can get help with rent, utilities and other costs. It also runs job help, programs for children, holiday meal events and deliveries to apartment communities and schools.
Fulton Atlanta Community Action Authority is a nonprofit that helps low-income people in Fulton County and the City of Atlanta. It helps with energy bills through LIHEAP and with emergency money help through an online application. It also offers empowerment classes.
Amani Women Center is a nonprofit in Clarkston that helps refugee and immigrant women and survivors of violence. Staff and community ambassadors help people apply for benefits like SNAP and Medicaid, get interpreters and translation, and get immigration help. It also runs a 12-month sewing academy that builds job skills.
