Assistance Programs in Michigan

The Home Heating Credit is a refundable Michigan tax credit that helps low-income residents pay winter heating costs. You can claim it even if you are not required to file a state income tax return, and you do not have to owe tax to get it. File form MI-1040CR-7 by September 30.

State Emergency Relief helps Michigan residents through a crisis that threatens health or safety: heat and electricity shut-offs, plus rent, past-due rent, security deposits, and moving costs. Energy help has no copay for eligible households. Apply online through MI Bridges at newmibridges.michigan.gov or with form DHS-1514 at your local MDHHS office.

Free home energy-efficiency work for income-eligible Michigan households: insulation, air sealing, and heating-system repairs that lower future bills. MDHHS runs the program through local Community Action Agencies. Contact the Community Action Agency serving your area to apply.

The Food Assistance Program, FAP, is Michigan's name for SNAP: monthly food money on a Bridge Card you use like a debit card at the store. Apply online through MI Bridges at newmibridges.michigan.gov, or with a paper application at your local MDHHS office.

WIC gives healthy food, breastfeeding support, nutrition education, and health referrals to pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5. Michigan WIC is offered through county health departments and local agencies. Call 800-942-1636 to find your local clinic, or find one at Signupwic.com.

Michigan Medicaid is free or low-cost health coverage for children, pregnant people, parents, older adults, people with disabilities, and low-income adults. The Healthy Michigan Plan covers adults 19 to 64 who meet the income rules. Apply online through MI Bridges at newmibridges.michigan.gov, by phone at 1-855-789-5610, or at your local MDHHS office.

The Family Independence Program, FIP, is Michigan's TANF cash assistance for low-income families with children, paid monthly on the Bridge Card. Adults have a 60-month lifetime limit, and applicants take part in the PATH work program. Apply online through MI Bridges at newmibridges.michigan.gov or at your local MDHHS office.

Michigan's Earned Income Tax Credit for Working Families is worth 30 percent of your federal EITC and is refundable, so it can put money in your pocket even if you owe no state tax. Public Act 4 of 2023 raised it from 6 percent to 30 percent. Claim it by filing a Michigan MI-1040 return after you qualify for the federal EITC.

Temporary weekly payments if you lost work through no fault of your own, from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. File online through MiWAM at michigan.gov/uia, which is the fastest way, or by phone at 1-866-500-0017. The customer service line is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:30pm.

Michigan Legal Help is a free website with plain-language legal information and do-it-yourself tools that build court forms for people without a lawyer. It covers eviction, family law, debt, and public benefits, and points you to legal aid and self-help centers across the state. The tools and information are free to everyone.

Dial 2-1-1 from any Michigan phone, or call 844-875-9211, for free, confidential help finding local assistance with housing, utilities, food, healthcare, and more. Michigan 211 runs through seven regional call centers, covers the whole state, and answers around the clock. You can also text your zip code to 898211 or search at mi211.org.