7 Real Housing Grants for Low Income Americans

Are you eligible for housing grants? We’ve found seven programs that may be able to help you with your shelter-related expenses such as rent and mortgage payments, repairs and more!

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers

Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers can pay a monthly grant toward your housing costs. The money is given directly to your landlord and will cover a portion of your rent.

In order to be eligible, you must meet income and other requirements. The program has a lot of rules, some landlords choose not to accept these vouchers and it can take a long time to receive benefits because the wait lists can be very long. Of course, the wait lists aren’t as straightforward as they seem and you may be able to receive benefits much faster than you expect.

You’ll need to contact your local Public Housing Authority to apply. 

SSVF Program

The SSVF program helps veterans keep their homes or find suitable housing.

In order to be eligible, you must have a veteran in your household, have an income that is 50% of the area median income or less and be homeless or at risk of literal homelessness.

To apply for SSVF housing grants, you’ll need to contact one of the VA’s SSVF Providers.

Job-Based Housing Grants

There are many work-based housing grants that you may be eligible for. I’ll explain a few of them here but there really are too many to list in a single article like this.

The Entertainment Community Fund can provide housing assistance for eligible entertainers.

CORE, or Children of Restaurant Employees, can help with rent, mortgage payments and utilities, for those who work in food service, including fast food, food trucks, restaurants and even hotel kitchens.

The St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund can provide help with rent, mortgage and utilities to truckers.

Of course, there are many housing grants available to veterans and military members as well from organizations like Army Emergency Relief, Helping Hands for Freedom, Operation Homefront and more.

Medical-Based Housing Grants

There are many medical-based housing grants as well. These grants require you to have a specific diagnosis in order to be eligible.

For example, the Urgent Needs Program from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society can pay up to $500 toward your rent, mortgage or utilities.

Adult cancer survivors may be able to receive up to $2,000 toward their housing costs from The Samfund.

There are many programs like these for people with specific diagnoses. If you have a specific diagnosis, I recommend conducting a Google search with the name of your diagnosis and “grants” in quotation marks.

Home Repair Grants

Whether you rent or own your own home, you may be able to get a home repair grant to fix problems, make improvements or even add disability modifications to your home.

We’ve found an extensive list of home repair grant programs in all 50 states.

Down Payment Grants

Down payment assistance grants can help you purchase a home! This can help low income families purchase their own homes even when they can’t afford a large down payment.

I’ve used these programs myself. When my husband and I purchased our home in 2015, we received $5,000 toward the purchase price of our home. It was extremely helpful and we didn’t really have to do much of anything to get the grant.

There are many organizations that offer assistance with down payments, including National Homebuyers Fund, Neighborhood LIFT, the PenFed Foundation Dream Makers Program and more. We have a list of down payment assistance grants as well. 

Emergency Rental Assistance Grants

Some states have started retiring these programs and in other areas, they’re still operational and have a lot of funding left. If you can prove that you need housing assistance because you struggled financially during the pandemic, you may be able to receive assistance.

You’ll need to look at your state’s ERA program for details. 

Other Housing Grants

Oh, and one more thing before you go! Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul are two national organizations that often help with housing costs. If you need help, I definitely recommend contacting them.

Nicole Thelin

Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.