How to stop an eviction or find housing again in Lake County, Indiana
If you are facing on rent in Lake County and an eviction is coming, there are local offices that can step in — and some of them are required by Indiana law to help. This page explains who to call in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, and the rest of the county. The eviction prevention services may also help if a notice was received for other reasons, such as noise disturbances or any cause.
The programs help whether you are trying to stop an eviction, facing an eviction case in court, or already out of your home and trying to get rehoused. Most of this help is free, and you do not have to figure out which program fits on your own — the offices below will point you to the right one.
Start with your township trustee
Indiana handles emergency help differently than most states. Every township has an elected trustee whose office must provide short-term help — called township assistance — to residents who qualify, and that includes help with rent and shelter when an eviction is close. This is usually the fastest local office to reach, because it exists for exactly this kind of emergency and serves only the people who live in that township.
The Calumet Township Trustee serves Gary and the unincorporated parts of the township from its office at 610 Connecticut Street. A pending eviction is treated there as an emergency, and applications are reviewed against income limits set by state law. Call (219) 880-4000 before going in so staff can tell you what to bring — usually identification, your lease, and proof of income.
The North Township Trustee serves Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, Highland, Munster, and Griffith. The main office is at 5947 Hohman Avenue in Hammond, at (219) 932-2530, and there is a second office in East Chicago at (219) 398-2435. Case managers there handle rent and shelter requests along with utility bills, which matters when a shutoff notice is part of what is pushing you toward losing your home.
If you live elsewhere in the county — Crown Point, Merrillville, Hobart, Lowell, and the other communities each fall under their own township — the Lake County courts keep an official list of township trustee offices with a lookup tool at https://lakecountyin.gov/departments/lc-courts/landlord-renter-resources that finds yours by address.
Free legal help if an eviction case is filed
Indiana Legal Services is a nonprofit law firm that represents low-income tenants at no cost, and its Merrillville office on Broadway covers all of Lake County. Attorneys there handle eviction cases, illegal lockouts, and disputes over unsafe housing. Call the statewide intake line at (844) 243-8570 to apply or see the site at https://www.indianalegalservices.org/, and say so right away if you have a court date or deadline within the next week, because those cases are moved ahead. Legal Services may also provide other types of help to qualified people, and see the NHPB page on free legal aid in Indiana.
Northwest Indiana Volunteer Lawyers connects tenants with private attorneys who take cases for free, and the Hammond Legal Aid Clinic at 1402 173rd Street, (219) 853-6611, serves Hammond residents only. Even a short consultation before a hearing can change the outcome, since many tenants lose eviction cases simply by not showing up or not knowing what to ask for.
Indiana also runs a pre-eviction diversion program through the courts. If a case has been filed against you, the judge explains it at your first hearing, and if you and your landlord both agree, the case is paused and kept confidential for 90 days while you apply for help. The Indiana court system at https://www.in.gov/courts/housing/ explains how the program works, along with how to ask a court to seal an old eviction record that keeps getting in the way of new apartments.
Programs that work to prevent homelessness
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Gary (website: https://catholic-charities.org/) runs a community outreach program aimed at keeping households from losing their housing. Staff pair short-term financial help with casework, meaning they help sort out the problem that caused the crisis instead of only paying one bill. The main office is at 940 Broadway in Gary, (219) 886-3549, with offices in Hammond and East Chicago as well, and the program serves all of Lake County.
CoAction, the community action agency for Northwest Indiana at https://coaction.care/, was known for years as Northwest Indiana Community Action before its name change. Its housing office works with people across Lake County who are losing their housing or already without it, and the agency also runs energy assistance, which may cover a utility bill so the rent is easier to manage. The Crown Point office can be reached at (219) 794-1829 or toll-free at (800) 826-7871.
Lake County government funds a homeless prevention program of its own, with rental and mortgage assistance for county residents, run through its community economic development department in Crown Point — call the county at (219) 755-3000 and ask for that department. The Salvation Army offices in Gary at (219) 887-6588 and Munster at (219) 838-0380 take emergency requests as well, including lodging when there is nowhere to stay that night. For programs focused on the rent money itself, including security deposits, see the rent assistance programs in Lake County.
Rehousing help if you have already lost your housing
Lake County's homeless programs are organized under the Indiana Balance of State Continuum of Care, which is run by the state's housing agency. The way in is called coordinated entry — instead of applying separately at every agency, you complete one shared assessment, and it may place you in line for whichever housing program fits your situation. That includes rapid rehousing, which, when funds are available and the household qualifies, moves a family into an apartment and covers part of the cost for a time while they catch up.
- In Lake County, CoAction now represents the county in that state system, so its housing office at (219) 794-1829 or (800) 826-7871 is the place to start, and the agencies below can also connect you to the assessment.
Women with children have one more place to turn. Sojourner Truth House at 410 West 13th Avenue in Gary, (219) 885-2282 or https://sojournertruthhouse.org/, is a day center where staff help with the housing search itself, along with meals, benefits applications, and case management — and the support continues after a client moves into a new home. Veterans should mention their service when calling any of the agencies above, since separate programs exist for veteran households and the assessment routes people to them.
If you are not sure where to start, call your township trustee first, since that office must respond to residents who qualify. Indiana 211 can also list current openings if the offices above cannot help, and the wider set of programs in the county — food, utilities, medical care, and more — is covered on our Lake County assistance page.
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