Assistance Programs in Indiana

Every Indiana township has a trustee who by law provides emergency poor relief to residents in need: help with rent to stop an eviction, a utility bill to prevent a shutoff, food, clothing, and sometimes burial costs. Help usually comes as a voucher paid to the landlord or utility, not cash. You apply at the trustee's office for the township where you live. Find yours through your county website or the Indiana Township Association at ita-in.org.

The Energy Assistance Program, Indiana's LIHEAP, helps low-income households with winter heating and summer cooling costs, paid straight to your utility. It runs through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority and local service providers. Applications open for the heating season each fall and typically close in mid-April. Find the provider serving your county through IHCDA or by dialing 2-1-1.

Free home energy-efficiency work for income-eligible Indiana households: insulation, air sealing, and heating-system improvements that lower future bills. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority runs the program through local service providers. IHCDA does not take applications directly, so contact the provider serving your area to apply. To find your provider, dial 2-1-1.

SNAP is Indiana's food assistance program: monthly food money on a Hoosier Works EBT card you use like a debit card at most grocery stores. The Division of Family Resources runs it. Apply online through the FSSA Benefits Portal at fssabenefits.in.gov, which also handles Medicaid and TANF cash on one application, or at your local DFR office. You can also call 1-800-403-0864, Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm local time.

WIC gives healthy food, breastfeeding support, nutrition education, and health referrals to pregnant and postpartum people, infants, and children up to age 5. Indiana WIC runs through the Indiana Department of Health and local clinics. Find your local clinic through the INWIC app or at in.gov/health/wic, or call 1-800-522-0874 for more information.

Indiana Medicaid is free or low-cost health coverage. Hoosier Healthwise covers children and pregnant people, and the Healthy Indiana Plan, HIP, covers low-income adults ages 19 to 64. Apply online through the FSSA Benefits Portal at fssabenefits.in.gov, or by phone at 1-800-403-0864. For help with HIP enrollment, call 877-GET-HIP-9, which is 1-877-438-4479.

Indiana has its own Earned Income Credit worth 10 percent of your federal Earned Income Tax Credit, and it is refundable, so it can come back as cash even if you owe no state tax. You claim it by filing an Indiana income tax return and attaching Schedule IN-EIC. You generally must qualify for the federal credit first.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, TANF, is Indiana's monthly cash assistance for low-income families with a child under 18. Most adults take part in IMPACT, the state's employment and training program, which includes an Applicant Job Search step before benefits start. Apply online through the FSSA Benefits Portal at fssabenefits.in.gov or at your local DFR office. Call 1-800-403-0864 for help.

Temporary weekly payments if you lost work through no fault of your own, from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. File your claim online through Uplink, the Claimant Self Service system, at uplink.in.gov, which is the fastest way. For help, call 1-800-891-6499. You must file a weekly voucher for each week to be paid.

Indiana Legal Services is the statewide nonprofit law firm that gives free civil legal help to low-income residents on housing and eviction, family, public benefits, consumer, and other noncriminal matters. Apply online at indianalegalservices.org, or apply by phone at 1-844-243-8570, Monday through Thursday, 10am to 2pm Eastern.

Dial 2-1-1 from any Indiana phone, or call 1-866-211-9966, for free, confidential help finding local assistance with housing, utilities, food, healthcare, and more. Indiana 211 is a statewide service with trained navigators answering around the clock, every day. You can also text your zip code to 898-211 or search at in211.org.