Legal Services

Food Assistance (SNAP), formally called Food Stamps, helps people pay for food. You get a card you can use to buy food at grocery stores.

General Assistance, called GA, comes from towns and cities, like Portland and Lewiston, to help pay for housing costs and other basic needs like food and medicine.

Supplemental Security Income, called SSI, is a state program that gives you cash to pay for basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter. Sometimes people call this program Social Security.
 

TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. TANF provides cash help to families with children living at home. TANF can help some immigrants pay for basic needs like housing, heat, and other things

Legal Immigrants who are not eligible for MaineCare can get subsidies for Marketplace health insurance—learn more here.

Information about Maine’s Arrearage Management Program

Basic information about the Parents as Scholars program

How-to guide if you have MaineCare and need hearing aids

Information about TANF benefits for minors who are parents

Information about what help is available based on immigration status, including a flowchart and pictogram

Information about help paying for medications

Special rules for people who are elderly or disabled

Information about programs including:

• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
• Weatherization and Furnace Repair or Replacement (CHIP)
• Emergency Crisis Intervention Program (ECIP)
• Low-Income Assistance Plan (LIAP)
• List of Community Action Programs (to apply for LIHEAP, CHIP, ECIP, LIAP)
• Arrearage Management Program
• Maine Home Repair Network
• Alternative Aid
• Emergency Assistance
• General Assistance
• Rural Housing Repair Loans and Grants
• Efficiency Maine
   

Legal Aid Resources Available to Low-Income and Elderly Mainers. This list is an overview of areas of law addressed, NOT a comprehensive list of services. Please contact the provider agencies directly for complete information about the services they provide. Because of limited resources, none of these agencies is able to meet the demand for services.