Help for those experiencing hardship
Steps to take if you're concerned about paying bills
Budget
Defer Payments
- If you haven’t looked at a budget in a while, now’s the time to do so. Every Dollar is a great free app to use to get a budget together.
- Get clarity from your income sources as to what the reality will look like over the coming weeks.
- Cut spending to bare necessities. If you can’t pay all of your bills, Dave Ramsey recommends you spend your money on these four items first and in this order:
- Food
- Utilities
- Shelter
- Transportation
Defer Payments
- If you’re still not able to cover all of your expenses, identify payments that can be deferred:
- Call creditors to explain your situation. You can ask for temporary relief on your monthly payments. If you offer to still send some money, even if it’s a smaller amount than your typical payment, they might be more willing to work with you.
- If you have federal student loans, you can forbear (interest accrues) or defer (interest doesn’t accrue on subsidized federal loans) your loan payments.
- For student loans, use this questionnaire to understand what options are available to you.
- If you’re paying extra on debt(s) right now and have less than one to two months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund, it might not be a bad idea to temporarily stop extra payments and then restart them once things settle down.
- Enroll for health insurance, if you can.
- Use this week to get a game plan together and gather information, as there may be more changes coming.
Financial and Food Assistance Resources
Food Pantries
Mt Orab United Methodist Church Food Pantry
ABCAP is also currently distributing food on certain dates in Georgetown (check their Facebook page for additional information)
Other Assistance
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), or EBT, is a federal program that provides monthly funds for people to buy the food they need. SNAP can help stretch your budget to meet additional needs beyond food, like medical bills, utilities, and rent.
Adams Brown Community Action Partnership (ABCAP) offers Programs such as HEAP, Head Start, Housing, WIC, Home Care, Golden Years Activity Center, Meals on Wheels, Ohio Means Jobs Centers, Weatherization, Senior Companions, IDA, Recycling and our Clinic
Brown County Helping Hands, which is located in Georgetown, offers food, counseling, and may have limited financial assistance, or direct people to programs, for rent or energy bill help.
(937) 378-6942
Financial Assistance Application
If you are part of the Free People Family and need financial assistance, you can complete our Financial Assistance Application.