Click here for information on the three most common affordable rental housing programs: Public Housing, Project-Based Section 8 housing, and Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers.
Bridging, Inc. 952-888-1105 Bridging Inc. provides families with a
one-time gift of quality furniture and household items. A person must be
referred by a Bridging referral agency in order to be determined eligible for
the furniture and household items. Click
hereto look up a Bridging referral agency near you or for more
information call 952-888-1105.
CommonBond Communities
651-291-1750
Minnesota’s largest nonprofit provider of affordable housing.
CommonBond has 54 communities serving over 5,500 people who live in
3,800 apartments and townhomes. They offer family, senior, and special
needs housing. To find rental housing through CommonBond, click here.
HeatShare 1-800-842-7279
HeatShare
is a program of The Salvation Army that has
been in existence since 1982. HeatShare provides energy assistance on a year-round basis. Funds are
used for natural gas, fuel oil, propane, electricity, and furnace
checkup and repairs. To find your local HeatShare service area click here.
Housing Link 612-522-2500 A non-profit organization focused on providing information about
affordable rental housing options in the Twin Cities seven-county
metropolitan area. Resources include overviews of housing programs and
terminology, weekly lists of vacancies, Section 8 Voucher information,
directories of housing, and a vacancy-locating service. If you live
outside the seven-county metro area, you can visit MinnesotaHelp.info for information on affordable housing resources in your community.
Housing Resources ToolBox
This website can help individuals and their family members find
housing and services in their communities. It provides information on a
variety of living arrangements and services in Minnesota, and the
resources available to help pay for them.
Lifeline/Link-Up
The Link-Up program provides a discount on new
service connection charges when installing new telephone service. The
federal Lifeline and state Telephone Assistance Plan programs provide a
monthly discount on your local telephone service, including one wireline or wireless phone per household. If you live on federally-recognized tribal lands, you may qualify for additional discounts. To qualify for these
programs, telephone service must be in your name and you must have
income at or below 135% of the federal poverty guidelines or
participate in qualifying public programs.
Low-cost Internet Services
Comcast and CenturyLink now offer low-cost internet services plan for
$9.95 plus tax per month for low-income families. To be eligible for Comcast’s
low-cost plan, you must have at least one child on the School Meal Program. To
be eligible for CenturyLink’s low-cost plan, at least one household member must
be on the School Meal Program or at least one of the qualifying work support programs.
Other restrictions may apply. To find out more information or to get the
application for this service click here for Comcast or click here for CenturyLink.
Or call Comcast at 1-855-846-8376 and CenturyLink at 1-866-541-3330.
Minnesota Home Ownership Center 866-462-6466 or 651-659-9336 This organization offers
mortgage counseling, credit repair, mortgage refinance information and
many other helpful and preventative measures that can be taken to
prevent foreclosure.
Minnesota Multi Housing Association Renters’ Hotline 952-854-8500 The
Minnesota Multi Housing Association (MHA) has established a special
hotline phone number for renters to find answers to common questions on
subjects such as security deposits, leases, Certificates of Rent Paid,
evictions, repairs and maintenance, cleaning, and giving notice to
vacate. Click here for a list of commonly asked questions and answers on the website.
Stay Warm Minnesota The
Stay Warm Minnesota campaign was launched to help every Minnesota
family experience a safe and comfortable winter without having their
home heating bills overtake the entire family budget. This website is
full of useful information regarding energy efficiency and heating
assistance programs provided by the federal and state government,
private industry, non profits and our energy utilities.
Weatherization Assistance Program 651-297-2545 The
Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) uses energy conservation
techniques to reduce the cost of home energy.
Correcting health and safety hazards and potentially life-threatening
conditions is the first consideration in WAP activities. Households
who are at or below 50 percent of the state median income are
eligible. All homeowners and renters who are income eligible for Energy Assistance are income eligible for WAP. Priority is given to households with at
least one elderly or disabled member and to customers with the highest
heating costs.
Transportation
Ways to Work Loan Program Ways
to Work is a proven, innovative program that provides small loans to
low-income parents who cannot get loans elsewhere. All Ways to Work
loans are used to help individuals remain in or move forward in their
job. The vast majority of our loans are made for the purchase of
modestly priced used vehicles or vehicle repair. Click here for eligibility criteria. The Loan Office Directory is a list of national organizations that facilitate Ways to Work.
Metro Transit Get schedule, route and fare information for the bus, the Hiawatha
Light Rail, Dial-a-Ride, and Metro Mobility for persons with
disabilities. Call 612-341-4287 for recorded departure times for any
route, 24 hours a day. To speak to a representative call 612-373-3333. TTY: 612-341-0140.
