Every country has its own programs, policies, and grants that are specially designed to offer special benefits to poor people or low-income citizens living in that country. These grants offer facilities for different categories, such as housing, food, household utilities, life insurance, and more. So here we have listed the top 5 grants that the US government offers to its citizens who belong to the low-income, age, and disability criteria so that they can have a normal life and do everything just like the other residents.
1] Food Assistance Or Food Stamps
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a program offered by the US government to people who have low incomes and cannot afford basic necessities. This program allows the citizens of the area to get food assistance immediately from both government and private organizations upon one call.
Of course, there are certain criteria that one has to fulfilled to get these benefits, and through this program, the government lays emphasis on providing food, nutrition counseling, and social service referrals to people in need.
There are separate food assistance programs for children, women, older adults, and Native Americans. Only those who are eligible based on income category, tribal membership, and living area are provided with these benefits.
2] Housing Help
Whether it is about getting emergency housing assistance, home repair and energy efficiency assistance, home buying assistance, rental assistance, or changing your address, government programs help you do all of these with ease.
Even if you do not have knowledge about these, government officials who are experts in this field will be there to help you with everything, even with the eviction and foreclosure. Through these grants, one can get affordable housing and will be able to prevent or deal with foreclosure and eviction.
Also, if a tenant has a feud with their landlord and is unable to solve it, then the government programs help with that, too, so that one can reach an agreement.
3] Health Insurance
There are different health insurance programs offered by the government, such as Medicaid to US citizens with low income, women who are pregnant, people of age above 65, children, and ones with certain disabilities.
The eligibility criteria for this grant depend upon the age, income, number of people in the family, and pregnancy or disability status. Apart from that, having citizenship in the US is necessary to qualify to apply for health insurance in the country.
However, Medicaid is not the only health insurance grant offered by the government; Medicare, ACA Health insurance, and COBRA insurance are also there to help citizens.
4] Death Benefits
There are two types of death benefits offered to the US citizens by the governments- Military survivor and COVID-19 funeral assistance. The ones who are eligible for Military survivor benefits are people who die on active duty, veterans, and retire; however, the policies and facilities may differ in each case.
Servicemen automatically qualify for these policies upon joining the Military because they have to enroll in the programs in order to protect and provide for their loved ones. These policies can be updated, changed, or canceled anytime during the officers’ service period.
Other than that, the government can help citizens by holding a funeral to ease the financial burden if the family member dies due to COVID-19, which is valid till 30th September 2025.
5] Help With Utility Bills
The US government has separate grants and programs to help the citizens pay off their phone, internet, and energy bills. Almost every house here has a heating and cooling system installed that can be adjusted according to the weather outside.
These bills can be higher as they are used almost for the whole year; hence, LIHEAP and WAP programs are designed to help people with low income pay the bills. Things that are checked while providing this grant are the current weather of the area, age, disability, and utility provider.
Apart from that, Lifeline is there to help you with phone and internet bills if income is low and your household size is bigger.
Conclusion
In conclusion, people living in the US get grants that are designed differently for every category, like children, women, low-incomers, senior citizens, etc. Of course, all the grants have certain criteria that the person must qualify to apply and get the benefits from the government. However, age, number of people in the household, annual income, and disability are some of the common facts that are checked by the government to decide whether to give grants to the applicant or not.
