MULTIPURPOSE
updated 09/10
While it's not exactly “free money,” individual development accounts (IDAs) offer many low-income people the chance to create savings for a particular financial goal, such as education, home purchase or improvement, or a small business startup. In an IDA, the client saves money, and the agency matches his savings 1:1 or 2:1, up to a certain set amount. For a list of nonprofit agencies that offer IDAs, see IDA Network directory.
Need help in identifying which government benefits you may qualify for? The Benefit Bank, at over 120 locations around the state, has trained counselors who can help you find those benefits. Find a Benefit Bank
near you and set up an appointment. The website identifies where you can find benefits, have your taxes filed,
and/or register to vote.
Community Action Agencies (CAAs), created as part of the Great Society programs, are often
the providers of energy assistance, housing, business assistance and other local financial aid programs for individuals.
You can identify the ones in your area at the directory for Ohio CAAs and find out about the specific services offered to people in your community.
There is now a program to give individuals the savings available through the state of Ohio's linked savings plan. SaveNOW . When participating banks agree to offer an interest bonus of at least .25% on a new savings account, the Treasury offers an additional 3% interest bonus. The bonus interest is made possible when the Treasury places a deposit at the bank and the interest earned on the investment is passed on to the saver as a 3% interest rate bonus at the end of one year. Financial counseling is one of the conditions for consumers who participate. See their website for more information.
Ohio's Jobs and Family Services Department has a Prevention, Retention, and Contingency program designed to help with one-time expenses that make stand in the way of a low-income family's financial advancement or survival (like car repair, GED expenses, etc.), and is for families with minor children. It is administered by the JFS office in each county. For more information, contact the JFS in your county, and see this website by Ohio Legal Services.
HOUSING
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency offers a Grants for Grads program. First time homebuyers who have graduated from a college or university in the last 18 months, and graduates of an Ohio high school, and who meet the income limits are eligible. You can qualify for a grant of up to 2.5% of your home's purchase price, which will not have to be paid back if you live in Ohio for the next 5 years. For more information, see the website or call 888-362-6432.
The state of Ohio has a one-stop website for foreclosure assistance, Save the Dream, complete with links to local resources, information on avoiding "foreclosure help" and "credit repair" scams, and more.
Ohio now offers a first-time home ownership program for firefighters, police officers, veterans, healthcare workers,
paramedics, EMTs, teachers, and active military. It is the Hero's
Program. Rates are one quarter percent lower than they are for Ohio's other first time home buyer program. For more
information, see the website or call 1-888-362-6432.
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency has mortgage programs for first time homebuyers (those who have not owned a primary residence in the last three years) and those wishing to buy a home in a depressed area. If you are buying a home in a target area, you do not need to be a first-time homebuyer. The rate includes 2% downpayment assistance. Income and home price restrictions apply. Availability of funds may vary.
The state of Ohio is once again offering mortgage credit certificates for first time home buyers, honorably discharged veterans, or those who buy in a target area who meet income and home price limits. This allows you to claim a percentage of your mortgage interest as a credit, rather than a deduction, while you are paying the mortgage: 20% for homes in non-target areas, 25% in homes in target areas, and 30% for for Real Estate Owned (REO) properties (30% of the purchase of a single family property from HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, USDA-RD, or a financial institution that acquired the property through foreclosure. For more details, call the Ohio Housing Finance Agency at 888-362-6432.
MEDICAL
To find the full range of health insurance options for the state of Ohio, see the Foundation for Health Care Coverage's list of Ohio coverage tools, including the health insurance matrix for public and private insurance, links to applications for WIC, Healthy Families, and Healthy Start, and a link the to einsurance site with estimates for the state's private insurers.
The newest state program, Ohio's Best Rx, provides drug discount cards for Ohioans who are over 60, or whose income is less than 300% of the poverty level.
This translates into less than $31,200 for a single person, $42,000 for a family of two, etc. Applications are available
at participating pharmacies, hospitals,and health centers. Application forms can be requested by calling 1-866-923-7879
or downloaded from the website. Prices and rebates vary.
Help is available for low income people who need dental care (up to 200% of poverty level).
Dental Options of Ohio is a group of dentists statewide that offers discount-priced dental care. For more information,
see the site at the Ohio Dental Association at their website
or call: 1-888-765-6789.
Subsidies exist to help low-income seniors who need financial assistance for in-home
health care in the state of Ohio. Potential clients must meet Medicaid income requirements
(or be eligible based on the extent of their medical and in-home care needs), be frail enough to warrant
nursing home care, and be allowed by their physician to stay at home with proper care. For more precise qualifications
and other information, see the website of the Ohio Office on Aging.
Free health insurance for low and moderate-income kids in Ohio is available
through Healthy Start-Healthy Families. It covers regular check-ups, annual physicals, immunizations, dental care,
vision care, prescriptions, etc. Families can apply through the mail. The form can be obtained by calling the Consumer
Hotline at 1-800-324-8680 or TDD for the hearing impaired at 1-800-292-3572, from 8 a.m. till 8 p.m. on weekdays,
and noon to 5 p.m. on weekends. Income limitations apply. For more information, call the hotline or see the
Healthy Start website .For information on children's health
coverage in other states, see Insure Kids Now.
For young people in Ohio, the Bureau for Children with Medical Handicaps offers diagnostic
services for all young those under 21 or adults with cystic fibrosis or with certain medical conditions and handicaps,
and treatment for those within 185% of the poverty level.
See their website.
VETERANS
Each county in Ohio has a Veterans Service Office that offers emergency financial help to veterans in need of basic services. It's not a large amount, but enough to help with immediate emergencies, and provide information on further assistance, resources and information on veterans's rights under the law.
For a full rundown of veteran's benefits offered in Ohio, see a list on the Ohio section of military.com.
Two good resources exist for veterans’ benefits are the veterans’ benefits website,
and What Every Veteran Should Know, available at many libraries.
The website includes forms and contacts.
Ohio is now giving cash bonuses to veterans of the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For online applications, see the state web site, or call 1-877-644-6838 for a paper application. There is also a website with eligibility requirements.
DISABILITIES
For an overall good source of information on disability resources and organizations in
the state of Ohio, see the Disability Resources website
for Ohio. It has links to all agencies that help the disabled, including state, national, and local resources,
and resources for specific disabilities and conditions. PLEASE NOTE THAT THEY MAY NOT GIVE GRANTS, but may give
information on difference sources of help.
ATOHIO has a program for redistributed computers for disabled people. A fee of $60 is required. For more information, see their web page or call 866-801-7306 (toll free) or 614-688-3222.
The Association of Blind Citizens also provides financial aid in purchasing adaptive equipment and software for the legally blind--up to 50% reimbursement for equipment ranging from $200 to $6000. Income restrictions apply.
The Barr Foundation provides financial assistance for amputees in need of prothesis and other equipment who are unable to pay for it. See their website for more information, or call (561) 391-7601.
CHILDREN
For those adopting children with special needs in the state of Ohio, some forms of adoption
subsidies exist to help offset the expense of raising a special needs child. For more information, see the Ohio Jobs
and Family Services
website outlining those subsidies. The state of Ohio Department of Human services has resources to help low-income people who work or attend school obtain day care for their children. The level of aid is dependent on income, and copayments may be required. For more information, including income limits and an application form, see : their website
Non-parents, such as grandparents and others, who are raising their relative's children
may be eligible for financial assistance. The state Department of Jobs and Family Services provides financial
aid for kinship care providers through Ohio Works First (OWF). There are payments to help in the support of
children, regardless of the income of their caregivers, (child only cases), which you may receive until the child
is 18, as well as benefits for low-income caregivers, for which you have to supply financial information about
yourself. For more information, see ,the website.
ENERGY AND HEAT
The state of Ohio has a new webpage on heating assistance programs across the state, including HEAP, assistance to seniors, and disconnect orders.
BUSINESS
Employers may be eligible for a work opportunity tax credit (WOTC), if they hire workers from one of 11 "target groups", including some public assistance recipients, ex-felons, food stamp or SSI recipients, and more. For more information about how to apply, see the Department of Labor website, or the site at Ohio Jobs and Family Services. This allows them to get a tax break for hiring a person falling into these categories.
Employee training grants are available for Ohio employers in the manufacturing field, and for those companies suffering from a shortage of information technology workers. These are available through
the Ohio Workforce Guarantee.
A good one-stop-shop for exploring all the state's business incentive plans, as well as
assistance for women and minority business owners, is the Department of Development. Go to
the website of the Department of Development's Strategic Investment
Division.
It includes tax incentives, loans, and grants.
The new stimulus deferred-payment, no-interest loan from the Small Business Administration has been announced. It's called the ARC loan and it is only for already-established businesses that fit the criteria for "viable" by the SBA. It was created to help otherwise viable businesses that are hurt by current economic conditions. It is NOT for new businesses, and is meant to pay the interest or principle of past loans. For more information, see the SBA website or call the toll-free number 866-947-8081 from 8 a.m. till 9 p.m. eastern time. It will be offered until September 30, 2010, or until funds are exhausted.
AGRICULTURE ASSISTANCE
The Ohio Department of Agriculture lists resources available to farmers.
One such program is the Ohio Agricultural Security Area Program. This is a new farmland preservation tool that farmers,
county commissioners, and township trustees can use to protect at least 500 acres of contiguous farmland
in their community for a 10-year period. In return for participating, farmers who own land within an ASA
may be eligible for a tax exemption on investments of $25,000 or more in a building, structure, improvement
or fixture that is used exclusively for agricultural purposes. The landowner requests for an exemption from the
county commissioner and the township trustees for the benefits. Another program offered by the Ohio Department of Agriculture is the Family Farm Loan Program.
This program helps farmers and agribusiness enterprises secure low interest loans to start or expand a farm or
agribusiness. For more information contact the Rural Development Partnership at 614-995-1490
(or toll free at 800-282-1955). You can check out
the website for more information, an application,
and eligibility requirements.
The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services has an information resource page for
migrant agricultural workers (in English & Spanish). You can view the webpage
at the JFS website or call the Ohio Migrant Hotline at: 1-800-282-3525.
RECAREERING EDUCATION
Several sources exist for finding trade and professional schools that are eligible for WIA
(Workforce Investment Act) money and other state and federal aid
to re-train for a new profession. To find eligible training providers approved by the state
Jobs and Family Services Department, go to their
website to search by name of provider (school), or search by the name of the program in up to five
counties. For a listing of state-approved proprietary schools (private trade schools),
the state has a site that is
searchable by name of school, program keyword or county of operation. Michigan
proprietary schools can be searched here
. Schools, correspondence schools, flight and vocational schools, apprenticeship and
training programs, and even overseas schools eligible for VA funding are searchable here.
UTILITIES AND ENERGY
Programs exist for low-income people in Ohio who need financial help in keeping their telephone
service. Federal programs include Lifeline and Link-Up, and in Ohio Service Connection Assistance is available.
For more detailed information on qualifications and benefits, see
the Ohio Consumer's Council site.
Besides information on financial assistance, it has a wealth of information on
consumer utility issues, such as reading your meter and power bills, and how to complain about utility services.
Safelink Wireless is a government-supported program that provides a free cell phone and airtime (about an hour)to people who otherwise wouldn't have them. Enter your zip code to see if it's available in your area, as well as eligibility in your state. You have to apply in print (the website gives you an application that you have to print and fill out), and send documentation that shows you are qualified, or fax them to the number shown. Mailed applications can take up to 2-3 weeks. For more information, call Safelink at 1-800-977-3768 from 8 a.m. till 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, or Sunday from 8 a.m. till 7 p.m., eastern time.
For information on home heating programs in Ohio for low-income people, try the
Ohio Department of Development site.
This site offers information on programs such as HEAP. HEAP provides a one-time payment for utility assistance during the winter. Go to the Department of Development website for an application.
Columbia Gas, supplier of gas to over 1,000 counties in Ohio, has programs to help customers who are behind on their gas bills. You may find one that covers you at this website. Contact them, or Columbia Gas at 1-800-344-4077 to see if you qualify.
ARTISTS AND WRITERS
Artists might want to check out the website for the
Ohio Arts Commission
Also check out the Artist Opportunities Database
at to find art opportunities such as grants,
employment, residence,
workshops, RFPs, etc. from all over the country.
VIOLENT CRIME
Victims of violent crime in the state of Ohio can find information on the crime victims
compensation program at: the Attorney General's website.
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