Colorado financial assistance directory
Low-Income Help and Resources in Colorado
If household costs are hard to manage, Colorado has programs that may help with food, housing, utilities, healthcare, child care, and other basic needs. Start with the statewide options below, then follow the county or local application route when a program is administered closer to home.
Money Fit serves Colorado residents statewide. If debt or monthly payments are also part of the problem, call 800-432-0310 or start a confidential debt review.
Where to start
The best starting point depends on whether the need involves a state benefit, local housing or utility help, or another community service. Eligibility, funding, waiting lists, and application methods can vary.
Apply for food, cash, or health coverage
Colorado PEAK is the main state portal for SNAP, Colorado Works, Health First Colorado, CHP+, and several other public benefits.
Find nearby help
211 Colorado connects residents statewide with food, housing, utilities, healthcare, transportation, employment, legal, aging, disability, and other local resources.
Housing or utility assistance
Colorado Housing Connects provides statewide housing navigation, while LEAP and Energy Outreach Colorado help with heating and utility costs under separate rules and seasons.
Colorado is state-supervised and county-administered. PEAK can start or manage many applications, but county human services departments make eligibility decisions and handle many case-specific questions. Child care assistance is also administered by counties.
Food assistance
For ongoing grocery help, start with Colorado SNAP or WIC when it fits the household. For food needed sooner, Hunger Free Colorado and 211 can help locate pantries, meal sites, and other nutrition resources.
Colorado SNAP
SNAP provides monthly grocery benefits to eligible Colorado households through EBT. Applications can be submitted through Colorado PEAK, the MyCOBenefits app, a paper application, or a county human services office.
SNAP and cash assistance help: 800-536-5298
Colorado WIC
WIC provides healthy foods, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and referrals for eligible pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum participants, infants, and children under age five. Local clinics handle enrollment and appointments.
State WIC office: 303-692-2400
Hunger Free Colorado Food Resource Hotline
The statewide Food Resource Hotline connects Coloradans with food pantries, meal sites, WIC, SNAP help, and other nutrition programs. Help is available in more than 150 languages, and callers can receive one-on-one assistance with SNAP applications.
Food Resource Hotline: 855-855-4626
Some SNAP eligibility rules changed in 2026. Federal changes affected eligibility for some lawfully present noncitizens beginning in May 2026. Households should use current Colorado guidance or contact their county rather than relying on older eligibility summaries.
Housing, rent, and utility help
Colorado housing and utility assistance is divided among statewide helplines, county programs, public housing authorities, nonprofit agencies, and seasonal energy programs. Funding and waiting lists can change quickly.
Colorado LEAP
LEAP helps eligible households pay a portion of winter home-heating costs. The 2026-2027 season opens November 1, 2026 and runs through April 30, 2027. Applications are not accepted before the season begins.
HEAT HELP: 866-432-8435
Energy Outreach Colorado
Energy Outreach Colorado works through local partner agencies to help qualifying households with past-due heating and electric bills. Utility-specific availability can change during the program year, so check current funding before applying.
Heating assistance: 866-432-8435
Colorado Housing Connects
Colorado Housing Connects is the statewide housing helpline for renters, homeowners, landlords, seniors, people with disabilities, and residents with fair-housing concerns. Navigators can help locate rental assistance, eviction-prevention resources, housing counseling, and other non-emergency housing services.
Housing helpline: 844-926-6632
Colorado Housing Search
Colorado Housing Search is a free statewide rental-search tool supported by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Search by location and contact the property directly to confirm availability, rent, accessibility, and eligibility.
Local public housing authorities
Public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs are managed by local housing authorities. Waiting-list status differs by jurisdiction, so residents should check the agency serving their community directly.
HUD public housing help: 800-955-2232
Colorado Legal Services
Colorado Legal Services provides free civil legal help to eligible low-income Coloradans and seniors. Housing work includes evictions, landlord-tenant disputes, unsafe conditions, lockouts, security deposits, and public-housing issues. Advice or representation is not guaranteed.
Colorado Legal Services: 303-837-1313
Healthcare coverage and clinics
Health First Colorado and Child Health Plan Plus cover different eligibility groups. Colorado PEAK is the main state application portal, and community health centers can provide another route to local care.
Health First Colorado
Health First Colorado is the state's Medicaid program. Colorado PEAK can be used to apply for medical coverage, manage benefits, upload documents, and review notices.
Member Contact Center: 800-221-3943 | State Relay: 711
Child Health Plan Plus
CHP+ provides low-cost health coverage for eligible children and pregnant people whose household income is too high for Health First Colorado but who otherwise meet program requirements. Applications can be submitted through PEAK.
CHP+ Customer Service: 800-359-1991
Community health centers
Federally supported health centers provide primary care and may offer dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, substance-use, and other services. Health centers serve insured and uninsured patients and use sliding-fee programs based on income and family size.
Health First Colorado rules are changing. Federal Medicaid changes adopted in 2025 and 2026 include work-related and immigration-status changes that affect some members and applicants on different timelines. Use current HCPF notices and PEAK rather than relying on older eligibility summaries.
Child care, family, and cash assistance
Colorado child care assistance is county-administered, while Colorado Works cash assistance is available through county human services and PEAK. Child care search tools are available statewide.
Colorado Child Care Assistance Program
CCCAP may help eligible families pay for child care while parents work, look for work, attend school, or participate in other approved activities. Counties administer the program, so eligibility levels, application procedures, waitlists, or freezes can vary by county.
Colorado Shines
Colorado Shines is the state's free child care search tool. Families can review licensed providers, quality ratings, licensing history, monitoring reports, age ranges, hours, and whether a provider accepts CCCAP.
Colorado Works
Colorado Works is the state's TANF program. It provides cash assistance and employment-related services to eligible families with children. Applications can be submitted through PEAK or a county human services office.
Head Start and Early Head Start
Head Start programs provide early learning, health, nutrition, and family support for eligible young children and families. Local programs handle eligibility, applications, openings, and waiting lists.
Locator help: 866-763-6481
Child care navigation changed in 2026. As of July 1, 2026, 211 Colorado no longer provides direct Child Care Resource and Referral services. Use Colorado Shines, your county CCCAP office, or a local early childhood council for child care search and subsidy questions.
Work, legal help, and essential services
Job loss, a legal problem, or loss of affordable phone service can quickly affect housing, healthcare, and the ability to apply for other assistance.
Colorado unemployment insurance
Eligible workers who lose work through no fault of their own may be able to receive temporary unemployment benefits. New claims are filed through MyUI+, and identity verification is required.
Customer support: 800-388-5515
Colorado Workforce Centers
Workforce Centers provide free job listings, internet and computer access, career counseling, training connections, résumé help, and staff-assisted employment services. Connecting Colorado is the state's employment-matching system.
Colorado Legal Services
Colorado Legal Services provides free civil legal help to eligible low-income Coloradans and seniors statewide. Services include housing, public benefits, consumer and debt issues, family safety, identification documents, and other civil matters.
Colorado Legal Services: 303-837-1313
Federal Lifeline benefit
Lifeline may reduce the monthly cost of qualifying phone or broadband service. Eligibility can be based on income or participation in programs such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, or Federal Public Housing Assistance.
Lifeline Support Center: 800-234-9473
Older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers
Colorado's aging, disability, and county human-services networks can help residents locate meals, transportation, caregiver support, cash assistance, home-based services, long-term-care information, benefits counseling, and safety protections.
Area Agencies on Aging
Colorado's Area Agencies on Aging coordinate local services for older adults and caregivers, including meals, transportation, case management, caregiver support, benefits counseling, in-home services, and other community programs.
Aging and Disability Resources for Colorado: 844-265-2372
Old Age Pension and disability cash programs
Colorado administers several county-based cash assistance programs for eligible older adults and people with disabilities, including Old Age Pension and Aid to the Needy Disabled programs. Applications can be submitted through PEAK or a county human services office.
Colorado Adult Protective Services
APS receives and investigates reports involving suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, harmful acts, or self-neglect of at-risk adults. Reports are made to the county APS program serving the adult's location.
Crisis, safety, and disaster resources
If someone is in immediate danger, has a life-threatening medical emergency, or cannot stay safe, call 911.
988 Colorado Mental Health Line
Call or text 988 for free, confidential, 24-hour support involving emotional distress, mental health, suicide, or substance use concerns. Colorado consolidated its former Colorado Crisis Services line into 988, making 988 the primary statewide crisis contact.
Call or text: 988
Colorado domestic violence programs
Violence Free Colorado maintains a statewide map of local domestic violence programs. Many local organizations operate 24-hour helplines, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available around the clock.
National hotline: 800-799-7233
211 Colorado
211 Colorado is a confidential, multilingual statewide service with more than 6,500 listed resources. It can help locate food, housing, health, transportation, emergency, wildfire, and other community services.
Call: 211 or 866-760-6489
Text: ZIP code to 898-211
Colorado and federal disaster assistance
Colorado disaster recovery is coordinated through state and local emergency-management agencies, while federal Individual Assistance may become available after a presidential disaster declaration. Assistance depends on the event, designated areas, losses, and application deadlines.
Colorado emergency operations: 303-279-8855
FEMA Helpline: 800-621-3362
Review the household budget and unsecured debt together
Public assistance may help with food, housing, healthcare, child care, or utilities while credit cards, medical bills, collections, personal loans, or payday loans continue taking money from the rest of the budget. Money Fit nonprofit credit counseling can help Colorado residents review income, expenses, debts, and possible next steps.
A debt management plan may help organize eligible unsecured debts into one monthly payment to Money Fit, which then sends payments to participating creditors. It is not a new loan or debt settlement. Creditor participation, concessions, account treatment, fees, and payment changes can vary.
Money Fit does not provide cash assistance, food benefits, rent assistance, utility benefits, government benefits, or emergency grants. The counseling form below is for help reviewing debt and monthly payments.
Open the Money Fit debt review form
Share a few details so Money Fit can respond to your request. Your information stays with Money Fit and is not sent to a marketplace of lenders or debt companies.
Related Money Fit resources
These resources can help with debt, housing, financial education, and assistance in other states.
