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Emergency Assistance

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COVID-19 update

The Government Center East Building is closed for in-person appointments. For the limited situations where it is not possible for a resident to interact with staff via telephone or online, Financial Assistance Services staff are available at all five Service Centers.

Call the Emergency Assistance hotline at 651-266-4884 for application help, questions about eligibility or to find out the status of your application.

COVID-19 information and resources

COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance

Are you a renter who has fallen behind on rent due to COVID-19?

RentHelpMN is now accepting applications for eligible renters who have experienced hardship due to COVID-19 and owe past due rent.

Apply for COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance.

Are you a landlord with renters who have fallen behind on rent due to COVID-19?

The Zero Balance Project will be accepting applications from landlords on behalf of their renters until Sunday, June 20.

Learn more about landlord assistance through the Zero Balance Project.

Emergency Assistance

Need assistance due to circumstances other than COVID-19?

Emergency Assistance (EA) and Emergency General Assistance (EGA) help with shelter, such as a security deposit or past due rent/mortgage. EA and EGA also help pay for utilities, when there is threat of disconnection. Utilities include electricity, heat and water.

Emergency Assistance helps adults with children, and pregnant women. Those who qualify for Emergency Assistance can receive up to two months payment for their share of rent/mortgage and up to $1,800 in utility assistance.
Emergency General Assistance helps adults without children. Those who qualify for Emergency General Assistance can receive up to two month's payment for their share of rent/mortgage or utilities, or a combined payment of up to $812.

Assistance eligibility

You may be eligible if:

You have not received EA/EGA help in the last 12 months.
Your income is less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Guideline for household size.
You you do not have enough resources to resolve your crisis.
You can show you have enough income to pay bills moving forward.

Apply for emergency help

If you ARE NOT already receiving public assistance, or your case closed more than 30 days ago, you can apply for EA/EGA online at applymn.dhs.mn.gov or by calling the Intake Hotline at 651-266-4444. You can also request a “Combined Application” from the Intake Hotline and email your application to [email protected].
If you ARE receiving public assistance through Ramsey County and have an open case (SNAP, healthcare, or cash assistance), fill out the application and email it to: [email protected] or fax to 651-266-3909. You may also call your caseworker or the Emergency Assistance Hotline at 651-266-4884 to apply.

EA/EGA application for those with open assistance cases