How to Get Immediate Financial Help

Immediate financial help is available for struggling families and those facing unexpected income loss, disability, disaster or other crisis. Most programs evaluate families to ensure that they qualify before offering assistance.

Evaluate your situation and compare your monthly projected income to your necessary expenses of housing, food, transportation and basic clothing. If you don't have enough to pay for these basics, you will likely qualify for immediate financial help. If there is a large amount of income going to things like credit cards, debt payments or other categories, you will need to cut spending there and work with debtors to lower your payments.

Contact your county or city human services. You can call 2-1-1 in most U.S. states to learn about immediate financial help options available to you.

Look for local branches of the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and other national charity organizations to get immediate financial help to pay rent or mortgage, keep the lights on or buy food.

Inquire at local charities for immediate financial help. Civic organizations in your community often have funds to help those in need, but the amount will usually be very small due to smaller budgets.

Turn to churches and religious communities, especially those in wealthier areas, for immediate financial help.

Research specialized organizations and charities. They have smaller budgets but more specific goals, such as helping families of AIDS children, disabled union workers, writers association members or families of firefighters. If you fit on their category, you have a good chance of getting the immediate financial help you need.