A food bank is an organization run by a church, homeless shelter, or community aid organization which offers food to those in need. Community dinners are often offered at local churches and community aid organizations for free or at extremely low cost.  Call local churches to find out if they have weekly spaghetti dinners, soup kitchens, or other events where meals are provided to the general public. SNAP provides nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and families.  The program is provided by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, and funded publicly.  To qualify for SNAP, you can have up to $2,250 in total household bank accounts, or $3,250 if you’re 60 or older.  Supplemental Security Income, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and most retirement plans do not count against the total financial resources used to determine whether you qualify.  The amount of income you earn also determines eligibility.  To apply, find your state’s public assistance office.  A full list of such offices and the online SNAP applications of states which offer them are available at http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/apply.  Fill in the required paperwork and mail, digitally submit, or print your application.  Response times vary by state.  You might also try identifying and calling your local SNAP hotline with this list: http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/state-informationhotline-numbers. SNAP benefits can be used for food purchases only.  Pet foods, soaps, household supplies, vitamins and medicines, alcohol, and hot foods (take-out or deli pizzas, for example) cannot be purchased with SNAP benefits. CSFP is a nutritional assistance program designed to improve healthy eating in low-income elderly people by providing them with healthy foods.  The program is administered by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and is similar to other nutritional assistance programs like WIC and SNAP.  To sign up for CSFP, contact your local human resources office.  Search the USDA’s database for a CSFP provider at http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/food-distribution-contacts. If you are  a low-income mother, you may be eligible for WIC benefits.  The program is publicly funded and administered through the US Department of Agriculture to provide food for poor mothers and their children.  Foods given to qualifying individuals as part of WIC packages include juice, milk, breakfast cereal, cheese, eggs, fruits and vegetables, whole wheat bread, canned fish, peanut butter, and legumes.  To apply for WIC, contact your local state or county public assistance office. Public housing is a comprehensive suite of three rental assistance programs, plus Section 8 vouchers, designed to give low-income individuals more affordable housing options.  The programs are run by local agencies but overseen by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  Most tenants in public housing pay around just 30% of their income to subsidize their rent.  Limiting your housing costs in this way is an important step toward surviving poverty.  To qualify for public housing, you must earn 80% or less of the average local income. Contact your local HUD office or search for publicly subsidized housing on HUD’s site at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/rental_assistance to learn how you can apply for public housing in your state or municipality.
Take advantage of local food banks. Apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Sign up for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP). Apply for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits. Apply for public housing.