Alaska Assistance Programs and Benefits
Free help finding assistance programs, from the Southeast panhandle to the North Slope
Heating oil in January, a boat engine that quits, a job that ends with the fishing season: any one of them can push an Alaska household past its budget. Helping Hands maps out the Alaska assistance programs that could carry you through and how to contact each one.
Start with the problem in front of you: the fuel tank, the rent or a clinic bill. We lay out the programs, the basic rules and the offices that serve your part of Alaska.
Our guidance covers all 30 boroughs and census areas in Alaska. You might live in Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau, in the Mat-Su or on the Kenai Peninsula, or in a village you reach by plane or boat. You get the same free information either way.
Help in Alaska comes from the Alaska Department of Health, federal programs, tribal organizations, food banks and local nonprofits. We help you figure out who to call first, in Anchorage or off the road system.
Check Your Eligibility for Free
Each Alaska program draws its own lines. Your income, the size of your household, your age, a disability, where you live and your work history can each change the answer.
Helping Hands helps you spot the programs that may fit and tells you where to begin.
Alaska Financial Assistance Programs
Seasonal work, high prices off the road system and a sudden injury can empty a savings account in a few weeks. Alaskans have several kinds of financial help to look into, depending on what happened.
If you can't cover the basics right now, we help you find resources that fit your situation and show you where to apply.
Helping Hands can help you locate information about programs and resources involving:
Alaska Food Assistance and SNAP Benefits
Food costs more in much of Alaska, and the gap grows the farther you live from a road or a big store.
SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, sits at the center of the Alaska food assistance programs we cover. Alaska puts SNAP benefits on the Quest card, which you use like a debit card at approved stores.
Short on groceries this month? Start by checking whether your household may qualify for SNAP.
You apply for SNAP, Alaska Temporary Assistance and Medicaid through the Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA), online at the Alaska Connect Portal, by phone or at a local office.
We can also help Alaska residents locate:
Alaska Utility Bill Assistance
Winter in Alaska brings long nights and weeks below zero in the Interior. Heating oil, propane, wood and electric bills climb fast, and falling behind can leave you facing a shutoff or an empty tank.
Helping Hands points you to the utility and heating programs open to qualifying Alaska households.
Resources may include information about:
LIHEAP Help in Alaska: Heating Assistance Program
Alaska runs the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through its Heating Assistance Program (HAP), managed by the Division of Public Assistance.
In many communities a tribal organization runs its own heating assistance program, so check with yours too. Funding, rules and application windows change each season, so confirm the current details before you apply.
We help you find the right program and get your application moving.
Alaska Rental Assistance and Housing Assistance
Rent in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks can take most of a paycheck, and small towns often have few places open at all.
Behind on rent, facing eviction, or looking for a place you can afford? Tell us, and we'll look for Alaska programs and groups that take on those problems.
Helping Hands provides information about housing resources that may be available to qualifying Alaska residents, including:
Section 8 and Housing Assistance in Alaska
If you need affordable housing in Alaska, learn about Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and other subsidized options.
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation serves as the state's public housing authority, and wait lists differ from one community to the next.
Helping Hands can provide information and resources to help you understand:
Alaska Eviction Assistance
Got an eviction notice or a past-due rent letter? Move fast. Deadlines in eviction cases are short.
Helping Hands connects you with information on rental assistance, eviction prevention, emergency shelter, legal aid and community resources in Alaska.
Depending on where you live, help may come from a nonprofit, a tribal housing authority, a legal aid office or a local agency.
Foreclosure Prevention Assistance in Alaska
If you own your home and money gets tight, look at your options before missed payments stack up.
Our foreclosure pages list foreclosure prevention and housing counseling options for Alaska homeowners.
Worried about losing your house? Call your mortgage servicer early and ask a HUD-approved housing counselor what you can do.
Alaska Assistance for Seniors
Older Alaskans may qualify for help with health care, meals, heating, rides to appointments and household bills.
For aging, disability and Medicare questions, call the Alaska Aging and Disability Resource Center at 1-855-565-2017.
Helping Hands provides information about resources that may be available to older adults, including:
Alaska Medicaid and Medicare Resources
Health care in Alaska can mean a flight to Anchorage or Seattle, and the bills that follow hurt most when money is short.
Helping Hands helps you find information about Medicare, Medicaid, Denali KidCare and other health-care assistance in Alaska.
Medicare and Medicaid follow different rules, so read the current requirements for the program you plan to use.
Disability Assistance in Alaska
Alaskans living with a disability may qualify for specialized programs, home and community services and local support.
Qualifications change from one program to the next, so read the rules for each Alaska service you're considering.
Helping Hands can help Alaska residents locate information about resources involving:
Legal Assistance for Alaska Residents
A benefits denial, a fight with a landlord or a debt collector at the door can leave you needing a lawyer.
From Ketchikan to Kotzebue, we can point you toward legal aid and free legal resources for Alaskans who qualify.
Each legal aid office decides who it can help for free or at low cost.
Legal assistance may be particularly relevant for issues involving:
Education, Employment and Training Assistance
Steady income takes more than one emergency payment.
Helping Hands also shares education, job training and workforce resources that can help Alaskans move into year-round work and build more stable pay.
Resources may include:
Alaska Food Banks and Emergency Food Resources
Need food today? Alaska food banks and pantries serve the larger cities and many rural communities.
Helping Hands helps you find food resources near you, including options for families, seniors, people with disabilities and anyone hit by a short-term crisis.
Hungry tonight, low on fuel or about to lose your place? Dial 2-1-1 in Alaska. Alaska 211 connects you with local services across the state.
Assistance Available Throughout All 30 Alaska Boroughs And Census Areas
Helping Hands shares program information and guidance across all 30 boroughs and census areas in Alaska.
Our Alaska resources reach cities, towns and villages, including:
- Anchorage
- Juneau
- Fairbanks
- Wasilla
- Sitka
- Ketchikan
- Kenai
- Kodiak
- Bethel
- Palmer
- Homer
- Soldotna
- Nome
- Utqiagvik
- Valdez
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough
- Fairbanks North Star Borough
- Kenai Peninsula Borough
- City and Borough of Juneau
- Kodiak Island Borough
- And communities throughout Alaska
From an apartment in Midtown Anchorage to a cabin off the Parks Highway, the help you can get depends on your household and the programs that serve your area.
How Helping Hands Can Help
Finding the right program in Alaska can mean sorting through state offices, tribal programs, paper forms and long waits.
Helping Hands gives you a clear map of the options open to Alaskans.
Our goal is to help you:
- Identify programs that may match your situation.
- Understand basic eligibility requirements.
- Find the appropriate agency or organization.
- Learn where and how to apply.
- Locate additional resources if one program does not meet your needs.
You pay nothing for our help and resource information, on or off the road system.
Need Help in Alaska? Start Here.
Struggling with food, rent, heating, medical bills or another crisis? You don't need to track down every program by yourself.
Tell us what's wrong and we'll list the Alaska agencies and organizations worth calling first.
Common Alaska Assistance Programs
Food & Nutrition
- SNAP / Food Stamps
- EBT information
- Food banks
- Food pantries
- Emergency food assistance
Housing
- Rental assistance
- Section 8
- Low-income housing
- Eviction assistance
- Foreclosure prevention
- Emergency housing
Utilities
- LIHEAP (HAP)
- Electric assistance
- Gas assistance
- Utility bill assistance
Financial Assistance
- Emergency financial assistance
- Cash assistance
- Family assistance
- Single-parent resources
- Community grants and assistance
Health & Senior Services
- Medicare
- Medicaid
- Senior assistance
- Disability resources
- Health-care assistance
Other Resources
- Legal assistance
- Education
- Job training
- Workforce resources
- Community services
Immediate Alaska Assistance
Need help right now? Dial 2-1-1 to reach Alaska 211 and find local help with food, shelter, heating bills and other emergencies.
For SNAP, Alaska Temporary Assistance and Medicaid, contact the Alaska Department of Health, Division of Public Assistance (DPA).
For aging, disability and Medicare questions, call the Alaska Aging and Disability Resource Center at 1-855-565-2017.
Keep this page handy, since it pulls the main Alaska help lines into one place.
Look up the Alaska programs that fit your household before the next bill comes due.
Helping Hands is a resource and information service. Program eligibility, availability, funding, and application requirements are determined by the applicable government agency, nonprofit organization, housing authority, or other program administrator. Providing information about a program does not guarantee eligibility or approval.
