Arkansas

The state's housing agency; runs affordable home loan and down payment programs and funds rental housing across Arkansas.

Helps eligible low-income renters with security deposits and monthly rent through local partner agencies.

Free, plain-language guides and forms from Arkansas's legal aid programs on stopping an eviction, dealing with your landlord, and keeping your home.

Lists free HUD-approved housing counselors, homeless assistance contacts, and rental help programs across the state; counselors can help you fight foreclosure at no cost.

Arkansas's cash assistance program (TANF) for very low-income families with children; provides monthly cash plus job help. Apply online at Access Arkansas or at any DHS county office.

Find your local community action agency, which can help with emergency bills, rent, utilities, and other crisis needs.

Local corps offer emergency financial help, shelter, meals, and utility assistance; find the location nearest you.

Statewide charity offering emergency assistance, counseling, and family support regardless of religion; based in Little Rock at (501) 664-0340.

Free lawyers for low-income Arkansans facing medical debt lawsuits, garnishments, or collections in the northern and eastern parts of the state. Helpline: 1-800-9-LAW-AID (1-800-952-9243).

Free civil legal help, including debt collection defense, for low-income people in central and southern Arkansas.

Take complaints about unfair medical billing or aggressive debt collectors; can point you to legal resources. Also ask any hospital for its financial assistance (charity care) policy — nonprofit hospitals must have one.

Helps pay heating and cooling bills, including crisis help if you've gotten a shutoff notice. You apply through your local community action agency.

County-by-county list of the community action agencies that take LIHEAP applications.

Community action agencies also run free Weatherization Assistance, which makes your home cheaper to heat and cool for good.

Monthly grocery money on an EBT card for low-income households; apply online at Access Arkansas or at any DHS county office.

Serves 33 central and southern Arkansas counties; use its food finder to locate free pantries near you, and its staff can help you apply for SNAP.

Statewide alliance of all six Feeding America food banks in Arkansas; its emergency resources page helps you find food help anywhere in the state.

Free healthy food, formula, and nutrition support for pregnant women, new moms, babies, and kids under 5, through the Arkansas Department of Health (1-800-462-0599).

Free or very low-cost health coverage for low-income adults (ARHOME is Arkansas's Medicaid expansion). Apply at Access Arkansas or a DHS county office.

• Access Arkansas

Free or low-cost health insurance for Arkansas children, even if parents earn too much for regular Medicaid.

Arkansas uses the federal marketplace; most people qualify for big discounts on private insurance, and losing a job or coverage opens a special enrollment window.

The state Health Department supports free and charitable clinics around Arkansas that see uninsured patients at little or no cost; one example is Harmony Health Clinic in Little Rock.

• Harmony Health Clinic

Free 24/7 statewide behavioral health line and virtual clinic from UAMS; talk to someone now and get connected to therapy or substance use care, insured or not. Call 800-482-9921.

Arkansas's own crisis and suicide prevention line; trained listeners help with any crisis, big or small. Call 1-888-CRISIS-2 (1-888-274-7472), or dial 988.

Pays most of the cost of child care for low-income working families, run by the Office of Early Childhood.

Arkansas's official tool for finding quality-rated child care near you and learning about help paying for it.

Free preschool, child care, and family support for low-income kids from birth to age 5; click your county on the map to find your local program.

Arkansas's online portal to file for unemployment benefits after losing a job; details at the ADWS unemployment page.

• ADWS unemployment page

Free job search help, training programs, and career coaching at workforce centers across the state; some programs help with work-related costs like transportation.

Free civil legal help (evictions, benefits denials, domestic violence, debt) for low-income people in northern and eastern Arkansas. Helpline: 1-800-9-LAW-AID (1-800-952-9243).

Free civil legal help for low-income people in central and southern Arkansas, including eviction defense and family law.

Statewide self-help site from Arkansas's legal aid programs with plain-language guides, forms, and the online legal aid application.

Low-cost, accredited immigration legal help (green cards, citizenship, family petitions) with offices in Little Rock and Springdale.