Public Assistance

As with any community member, artists sometimes face times of crisis and scarcity. We’ve listed a few key Public Assistance organizations and agencies that provide assistance.

Feeding America
Feeding America is a nationwide hunger-relief network that collects and distributes nutritious, high-quality food to help feed people who cannot afford to buy groceries. Feeding America also lists resources for programs and initiatives that are federally funded.  

Benefits CheckUp
This is an online screening site where you can find information about federal, state, local and private programs that help pay for prescription drugs, utility bills, meals, health, and a variety of other basic needs.

Government Benefits
Govbenefits.gov provides information on public benefits by state. It is also has an online screening questionnaire that determines the benefits for which the user may be eligible.

Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid                   
Information on grants, loans, financial aid, and other benefits from the U.S. government.                                       

Medicaid
Medicaid is a federally funded program that provides medical and prescription coverage for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. For more information, go to your state of residence website.

Medicare
Medicare is a federally funded program that provides medical and prescription coverage for people age 65 and older and the disabled.

New York City Coalition against Hunger (NY)
The New York City Coalition against Hunger (NYCCAH) represents the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and the more than one million low-income New Yorkers who are forced to use them. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers and enact innovative solutions to help them gain self-sufficiency. 

Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration is a federal agency that administers benefits to retired and disabled individuals, to spouses of living beneficiaries, and to child and spousal survivors of deceased individuals eligible for Social Security benefits. 

United States Department of Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor website provides updated information and resources for employment in the United States.                                 

Workers Compensation
The Workers’ Compensation website provides information for employees, employers, insurers, and medical providers about workmen’ compensation benefits and work-related injuries and illnesses.

Image: Jeffrey Williams (Fellow in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design ’19’), 17,000 ft2 of Shade, 2018, Image Courtesy: Jeffrey Williams