St. Clair County assistance programs.

Help with heating and air conditioning bills

If you are behind on either your heating or summer cooling bills, Heat-Up St. Louis, Inc., is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity that was created to help St. Louis area low income, elderly, disabled people, and other struggling families with paying their delinquent heating and summer cooling bills in St. Clair County, Belleville Illinois and parts of Missouri. It focuses on those who live in the St. Louis region.

Their primary goal is to provide utility counsel, heat (winter) and cooling (summer) grants to help pay bills, referrals to other agencies, and they will do what they can to restore a primary home heating source during the winter. During the summer, they will assist with air-conditioners, and payments will be made on high electric bills in the summer for at-risk households. The needy people Heat-Up St. Louis, Inc. can assist includes the working poor, Americans who may have lost their jobs or who have been temporarily laid-off or often trapped in a economic crisis. The charities and other organizations that they partner with will provide a safety net in a region which often does not have enough state of Illinois, federal government, or directly utility company funds to help keep the needy connected to their utility and heating services.

The bottom line is that Heat-Up St. Louis, Inc., is a year-round program that assists thousands of people every year. During the summertime, the component known as Cool Down St. Louis focuses on providing cooling grants and public education to help the disabled and families with small children, and they can also aid the elderly and help them avoid heat deaths and illnesses. Because this is an ongoing assistance program, most of the donations go almost immediately to our networking social service, local charities, community action agencies, and other non-profits located in Missouri and Illinois. Contact 314-241-7668 to learn more or to apply for help.

 

 

 

Get Mortgage Help

Homeowners who live in St. Clair County and who are having problems paying their delinquent mortgages may be eligible for grants and other assistance for both paying their mortgage and other housing expenses.

The Catholic Urban Program-Holy Angels Shelter, which is located in East St. Louis, has available to distribute free grant money that is being targeted specifically to help borrowers who find themselves in a financial crunch or who may be facing a foreclosure. The mortgage program can help with paying up to three months of a borrowers mortgage. Those who apply for the mortgage help need to have a limited income that meets program guidelines and they cannot be in bankruptcy or can’t be deep in the foreclosure process.

To find out if you are qualified to receive mortgage assistance, call the Catholic Urban Program non-profit organization at 874-4079. Or click here to read about other mortgage programs.

 

 

Information and grants for bills and expenses

Contact the Belleville Illinois based St. Clair County Community Action Agency. This is one of the leading non-profits in the area. Counselors may be able to help you with apply for programs that provide financial assistance, and they are definitely a great place to learn about your options and various programs. Among some of the services they may be able to help you with include:

• Weatherization - This is a federal government funded program that will provide homeowners with free energy conservation updates to heir homes. Read more.
• LIHEAP - This program provides for either cooling utility bill payments for low-income households during the summer, and during the cold winter months funds are available for paying for heating bills and preventing disconnections of service.
• Rent assistance and low income housing - The community action agency works with local churches, charities, and other aid organizations in order to provide funds to pay rent and housing costs. They can also help individuals apply for section 8 housing vouchers. Several organizations in the area focus on these housing and rent assistance programs. Find more rental assistance in St. Clair County.

Call the community action agency at (618) 277-6790.

Housing Counseling and Assistance Center, which is also located in Belleville Illinois, also offers low income, homeless, the working poor, and others with several services. Some of the options include Eviction counseling, Rental assistance and shelter counseling, Vouchers for medical expenses and clothing, Housing Assistance, and free legal aid. Dial 888-397-5730.

The St. Clair County Community Services Division (phone 277-6790) offers Emergency Food and Shelter, Rent and even Mortgage Payment Assistance, government grants from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and more.