Skip to main content
For officials

What people ask for

How many people ask Front Door for each kind of help, where, and when. We keep only counts. We never keep what anyone wrote or who they are.

Staff time and money savedOpen dataFor agencies

Demo dataDemo data, modeled from public data on when people look for help. Our own counts replace it as they grow.

Nothing here is a real count of people. The patterns through the year come from published government and 211 data. The size is made up.

How the demo is madeShow our own counts

Demo data. In the last 12 months, people in North Carolina asked most about Housing (50%), then Money (17%) and Food (13%). Rising fastest from the week before: Health, up 7%.

Choose what to show

North Carolina, Oct 13, 2025 to Oct 11, 2026

QuestionsDemo data
64,889

▲ +1% vs the week before

Needed help this weekDemo data
19,594
Unmet needDemo dataNo program and no listed place nearby fit
9,619

Over time. Questions each week, by kind of help.

Demo data

On a phone, the chart shows the last 13. The table has every one.

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)Total
Week of Oct 1317266866169Under 1030Under 10Under 101,245
Week of Oct 2018464663171Under 1031Under 10Under 101,237
Week of Oct 2719463161171Under 1032Under 10Under 101,237
Week of Nov 320260760170Under 1032Under 101521,227
Week of Nov 1021059359169Under 1033Under 10Under 101,223
Week of Nov 1721258959169Under 1034Under 101601,226
Week of Nov 2421558561171Under 1037Under 101651,238
Week of Dec 121558261167Under 1041Under 10Under 101,238
Week of Dec 821458563167Under 1041Under 10Under 101,244
Week of Dec 1520860264171Under 1043Under 10Under 101,263
Week of Dec 2219362266181Under 1046Under 101771,287
Week of Dec 2917764867184Under 1047Under 10Under 101,297
Week of Jan 515567071197Under 1046Under 10Under 101,304
Week of Jan 1213869577207Under 1047Under 10Under 101,329
Week of Jan 1913668372223Under 1045Under 10Under 101,321
Week of Jan 2613067468249Under 1042Under 10Under 101,320
Week of Feb 212765764264Under 1038Under 10Under 101,306
Week of Feb 912364563289Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 101,305
Week of Feb 1612563560299Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 101,308
Week of Feb 2312962761298Under 10Under 10Under 10Under 101,306
Week of Mar 213160760294Under 1032Under 10Under 101,288
Week of Mar 913460761296Under 1031Under 10Under 101,295
Week of Mar 1613959162296Under 1032Under 10Under 101,287
Week of Mar 2314759963321Under 1030Under 10Under 101,320
Week of Mar 3014559064329Under 1030Under 10Under 101,309
Week of Apr 615159464345Under 1032Under 10Under 101,333
Week of Apr 1315960664353Under 1032Under 10Under 101,355
Week of Apr 2015861163307Under 1031Under 10Under 101,312
Week of Apr 2715961161265Under 1031Under 10Under 101,272
Week of May 416360861215Under 1032Under 101491,231
Week of May 1116261960175Under 1030Under 101581,207
Week of May 1816660260171Under 1030Under 101531,186
Week of May 2517461459170Under 1031Under 101511,203
Week of Jun 117461560170Under 1031Under 10Under 101,197
Week of Jun 818261758170Under 1031Under 10Under 101,203
Week of Jun 1517861760170Under 1032Under 10Under 101,202
Week of Jun 2217662856166Under 1032Under 10Under 101,207
Week of Jun 2917062858166Under 1032Under 10Under 101,208
Week of Jul 616362162166Under 103215Under 101,206
Week of Jul 1315961966169Under 103418Under 101,213
Week of Jul 2015862365167Under 103218Under 101,209
Week of Jul 2716162567167Under 103118Under 101,218
Week of Aug 316362864168Under 103018Under 101,223
Week of Aug 1016163566165Under 102818Under 101,224
Week of Aug 1716963766166Under 102716Under 101,229
Week of Aug 2418163362170Under 1027Under 10Under 101,225
Week of Aug 3118661961167Under 1026Under 10Under 101,203
Week of Sep 719561757168Under 1026Under 10Under 101,199
Week of Sep 1419762258170Under 1026Under 10Under 101,205
Week of Sep 2119363261168Under 1027Under 10Under 101,214
Week of Sep 2818664765170Under 1027Under 10Under 101,228
Week of Oct 514754850138Under 1023Under 10Under 101,017

Ranked. Kinds of help, most asked first, with the change from the week before.

Change compares the week of Sep 28 with the week of Sep 21. It shows only when both weeks have 10 or more.

See the numbers
Kind of helpQuestionsChange from the week beforeUnmet
Housing32,314+2%6,811
Money10,784+1%1,162
Food8,746-4%139
Legal help7,313+1%1,371
Health3,250+7%104
Work1,7240%32
Safety486Under 10
Education189Under 10
Care83Under 10

By month. Each kind of help's share of all questions, month by month.

Demo data

See the numbers
FoodHousingHealthMoneyCareWorkEducationOther (legal help, safety)
November 202517%48%5%14%Under 103%Under 1013%
December 202516%48%5%14%Under 103%Under 1014%
January 202611%52%5%17%Under 103%Under 1012%
February 202610%49%5%22%Under 103%Under 10Under 10
March 202611%46%5%24%0%2%Under 1012%
April 202612%46%5%24%Under 102%Under 1011%
May 202614%51%5%15%Under 103%Under 1013%
June 202615%52%5%14%0%3%0%12%
July 202613%51%5%14%Under 103%1%Under 10
August 202614%52%5%14%0%2%1%12%
September 202616%52%5%14%Under 102%Under 1011%
October 202614%54%5%14%Under 102%Under 10Under 10
  1. 01Housing32,31449.8%
  2. 02Money10,78416.6%
  3. 03Food8,74613.5%
  4. 04Other (legal help, safety)7,79912%
  5. 05Health3,2505%
  6. 06Work1,7242.7%
  7. 07Education1890.3%
  8. 08Care830.1%

Where. Questions by county in North Carolina.

Demo data

Shading

  • Most questions
  • More
  • Some
  • Fewer
  • Fewer than 10, or none

Most questions

  1. 01Wake County7,495▲ +1%
  2. 02Mecklenburg County7,284▲ +2%
  3. 03Guilford County3,368▲ +2%
  4. 04Forsyth County2,424▲ +4%
  5. 05Durham County2,0830%
  6. 06Cumberland County2,069▲ +5%
  7. 07Buncombe County1,7080%
  8. 08Union County1,578▲ +4%
  9. 09Johnston County1,5070%
  10. 10Cabarrus County1,4840%
  11. 11New Hanover County1,479▲ +4%
  12. 12Gaston County1,4760%
  13. 13Onslow County1,265▲ +4%
  14. 14Iredell County1,222▲ +5%
  15. 15Alamance County1,099▲ +5%
See the numbers: County
CountyQuestionsThis weekUnmet
Wake County7,4952,4791,306
Mecklenburg County7,2842,3461,221
Guilford County3,3681,137547
Forsyth County2,424804391
Durham County2,083686328
Cumberland County2,069684330
Buncombe County1,708547281
Union County1,578487267
Johnston County1,507472261
Cabarrus County1,484464258
New Hanover County1,479460266
Gaston County1,476466255
Onslow County1,265414210
Iredell County1,222400206
Alamance County1,099377182
Pitt County1,080364161
Davidson County1,061360160
Catawba County1,005355160
Brunswick County1,000351155
Rowan County919315152
Orange County914329140
Randolph County886316125
Harnett County872311141
Henderson County72926295
Wayne County72425990
Robeson County708244104
Moore County65120674
Craven County62020062
Cleveland County61018562
Lincoln County57516664
Nash County57016758
Rockingham County53915257
Burke County51013058
Chatham County47611554
Franklin County46411553
Caldwell County46111252
Wilson County44211052
Surry County3889452
Carteret County38410152
Pender County3809752
Lee County3768752
Stanly County3759252
Wilkes County3729252
Rutherford County3708952
Haywood County3497752
Granville County3437852
Sampson County3376652
Lenoir County3225852
Watauga County3225952
Hoke County3195652
Columbus County3165552
Duplin County3145551
Edgecombe County3125451
Halifax County2975240
Davie County2935239
McDowell County2925236
Jackson County2905236
Beaufort County2865231
Stokes County2845231
Vance County2635213
Richmond County2615217
Pasquotank County24752Under 10
Person County2365211
Macon County23352Under 10
Dare County22452Under 10
Yadkin County21852Under 10
Alexander County2095213
Scotland County18952Under 10
Transylvania County18752Under 10
Currituck County1595211
Cherokee County1405212
Bladen County1365110
Ashe County10931Under 10
Montgomery County9218Under 10
Anson County66Under 10Under 10
Caswell County66Under 10Under 10
Martin County66Under 10Under 10
Madison County65Under 10Under 10
Greene County64Under 10Under 10
Polk County64Under 10Under 10
Hertford County62Under 10Under 10
Warren County62Under 10Under 10
Yancey County62Under 10Under 10
Avery County56Under 10Under 10
Bertie County54Under 10Under 10
Northampton County54Under 10Under 10
Alleghany County52Under 10Under 10
Camden County52Under 10Under 10
Chowan County52Under 10Under 10
Clay County52Under 10Under 10
Gates County52Under 10Under 10
Mitchell County52Under 10Under 10
Pamlico County52Under 10Under 10
Perquimans County52Under 10Under 10
Swain County52Under 10Under 10
Washington County52Under 10Under 10
Graham CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10
Jones CountyUnder 10Under 10Under 10

Rows that say fewer than 10 are hidden on purpose. When only one row would be hidden, a second one is hidden too, so it cannot be worked out from the total.

Urgent and unmet. The share of questions each week that needed help this week, and the share nothing fit.

Demo data

See the numbers
Needed help this weekUnmet need
Week of Oct 1331%15%
Week of Oct 2031%15%
Week of Oct 2730%15%
Week of Nov 330%15%
Week of Nov 1031%15%
Week of Nov 1730%15%
Week of Nov 2430%14%
Week of Dec 131%14%
Week of Dec 830%14%
Week of Dec 1531%15%
Week of Dec 2230%15%
Week of Dec 2930%16%
Week of Jan 530%15%
Week of Jan 1230%16%
Week of Jan 1930%16%
Week of Jan 2631%16%
Week of Feb 231%15%
Week of Feb 930%15%
Week of Feb 1630%16%
Week of Feb 2331%16%
Week of Mar 230%15%
Week of Mar 929%15%
Week of Mar 1630%15%
Week of Mar 2330%15%
Week of Mar 3030%15%
Week of Apr 630%14%
Week of Apr 1331%14%
Week of Apr 2030%15%
Week of Apr 2730%15%
Week of May 430%15%
Week of May 1130%15%
Week of May 1830%15%
Week of May 2530%15%
Week of Jun 131%15%
Week of Jun 831%15%
Week of Jun 1530%15%
Week of Jun 2231%14%
Week of Jun 2930%14%
Week of Jul 629%15%
Week of Jul 1329%14%
Week of Jul 2030%15%
Week of Jul 2731%14%
Week of Aug 330%14%
Week of Aug 1030%15%
Week of Aug 1731%15%
Week of Aug 2430%15%
Week of Aug 3130%15%
Week of Sep 730%14%
Week of Sep 1430%15%
Week of Sep 2131%15%
Week of Sep 2831%15%
Week of Oct 531%14%

Each kind of help. Questions each week for each kind of help, on its own scale.

Demo data
  • Food

  • Housing

  • Health

  • Money

  • Education

  • Work

  • Legal help

  • Safety

See the numbers for every kind of help
FoodHousingHealthMoneyEducationWorkLegal helpSafety
Week of Oct 1317266866169Under 1030129Under 10
Week of Oct 2018464663171Under 1031132Under 10
Week of Oct 2719463161171Under 1032137Under 10
Week of Nov 320260760170Under 103214210
Week of Nov 1021059359169Under 1033147Under 10
Week of Nov 1721258959169Under 103415010
Week of Nov 2421558561171Under 103715411
Week of Dec 121558261167Under 1041155Under 10
Week of Dec 821458563167Under 1041157Under 10
Week of Dec 1520860264171Under 1043158Under 10
Week of Dec 2219362266181Under 104616512
Week of Dec 2917764867184Under 1047162Under 10
Week of Jan 515567071197Under 1046155Under 10
Week of Jan 1213869577207Under 1047154Under 10
Week of Jan 1913668372223Under 1045152Under 10
Week of Jan 2613067468249Under 1042147Under 10
Week of Feb 212765764264Under 1038146Under 10
Week of Feb 912364563289Under 10Under 10142Under 10
Week of Feb 1612563560299Under 10Under 10148Under 10
Week of Feb 2312962761298Under 10Under 10149Under 10
Week of Mar 213160760294Under 1032153Under 10
Week of Mar 913460761296Under 1031155Under 10
Week of Mar 1613959162296Under 1032156Under 10
Week of Mar 2314759963321Under 1030149Under 10
Week of Mar 3014559064329Under 1030141Under 10
Week of Apr 615159464345Under 1032137Under 10
Week of Apr 1315960664353Under 1032130Under 10
Week of Apr 2015861163307Under 1031131Under 10
Week of Apr 2715961161265Under 1031133Under 10
Week of May 416360861215Under 103213613
Week of May 1116261960175Under 103014414
Week of May 1816660260171Under 103014112
Week of May 2517461459170Under 103114011
Week of Jun 117461560170Under 1031134Under 10
Week of Jun 818261758170Under 1031133Under 10
Week of Jun 1517861760170Under 1032133Under 10
Week of Jun 2217662856166Under 1032134Under 10
Week of Jun 2917062858166Under 1032134Under 10
Week of Jul 6163621621661532137Under 10
Week of Jul 13159619661691834138Under 10
Week of Jul 20158623651671832136Under 10
Week of Jul 27161625671671831139Under 10
Week of Aug 3163628641681830141Under 10
Week of Aug 10161635661651828139Under 10
Week of Aug 17169637661661627136Under 10
Week of Aug 2418163362170Under 1027133Under 10
Week of Aug 3118661961167Under 1026128Under 10
Week of Sep 719561757168Under 1026124Under 10
Week of Sep 1419762258170Under 1026120Under 10
Week of Sep 2119363261168Under 1027122Under 10
Week of Sep 2818664765170Under 1027123Under 10
Week of Oct 514754850138Under 1023102Under 10

How we count. What each number means and what we keep.

A question
When someone asks Front Door their first question, our matching service sorts it: the kind of help, and whether they need it this week. We add one to the count for that kind of help, place and week.
The place
The ZIP code or county the person gave us, if they gave one. We never use an address, a city block or a phone location.
What we keep
The count, and nothing else: not the words, not a name, not an account, not a browser or network address.
Unmet need
No state or federal program fit the question well, and we list no office, nonprofit or food site for that kind of help in the person's county.
Small counts
Any count under 10 shows as fewer than 10, in the charts too. When only one count in a list would be hidden, we hide a second one too.
Not counted
The demo site, questions about Front Door itself, crisis questions and letters.
Weeks
Weeks start on Monday, in UTC. The page reads the counts again at most every 15 minutes.

Read our privacy page

How the demo is made

The demo is a model, not a count. It shows what this page will look like and the kinds of patterns to expect, until our own counts are large enough to replace it.

  • Size: the model assumes 40,000 questions a week across the country. That number is made up so the charts have something to show.
  • Kinds of help: each kind gets a share of all questions and a month by month pattern, read from the published sources below.
  • Places: each state gets its share by population (Census county estimates for 2024), and each county its share of its state.
  • Housing mixes rent help, which is steady through the year, with help paying utility bills, which rises in winter in colder states and in summer in hotter ones.
  • Urgent and unmet shares in the demo are made up, to show how those charts read.
  • A small fixed wobble keeps each week from looking drawn with a ruler. The same choice always draws the same numbers.

Search trends

We looked for Google Trends numbers for searches like food stamps, SNAP, rent help, Medicaid, child care help, utility help, unemployment, food bank and WIC, in English and Spanish. Google does not allow automated reading of its Trends pages, and Google has not published a dataset for these searches, so we did not use Trends. The demo is modeled from published government and 211 data instead, listed below.

Where each pattern comes from

Food
Food help rises in September and again in November and December, and is lowest in February. From the share of 211 requests that were about food, month by month, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania's open 211 data, the only month-by-month 211 data we found). In November 2025 many states paid partial SNAP benefits during the federal shutdown; the model does not add that event.
Housing
Rent help peaks in January and again from August to October, with a dip in November, following eviction filings in 43 cities and counties tracked by the Eviction Lab, Tacoma among them. About a third of housing questions are about utility bills (211's national split of housing and utility requests in 2025). In colder states that part follows heating help, highest in January and February; in hotter states it follows help with electric bills, higher from spring to fall; states in between get half of each. The shapes come from 211 requests in Western Pennsylvania, where a winter shutoff ban moves electric requests to spring, so the cooling shape is rough.
Health
Medicaid and CHIP applications are steady through the year, highest in January, from CMS application data for 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025 (the pandemic years are left out). Marketplace open enrollment, November 1 to January 15, adds to it in Washington.
Money
Money mixes steady cash help with the tax season: a quarter of it follows when people file federal returns (IRS 2025 filing season counts, most from February to April), when Washington's Working Families Tax Credit also opens. The other three quarters are kept flat, because we found no monthly pattern for cash help.
Care
Child care help climbs from May and peaks in August, before school starts, from the share of 211 requests about child care, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania; a small sample).
Education
Education help, mostly school supplies, is about three times as high in July and August, from the share of 211 requests about education, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania).
Work
Unemployment help peaks in January, rises again in early July and in December, and is lowest in September, from new unemployment claims (not seasonally adjusted) in every state, 2012 to 2019 and 2022 to 2025, Department of Labor.
Legal help
Legal help is close to flat through the year, from the share of 211 requests about legal help, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania).
Safety
Safety is close to flat through the year, from 211 requests about domestic violence, 2022 to 2024 (Western Pennsylvania). National hotline research finds calls do not rise over the holidays, so the model adds no holiday spike.

How questions split between kinds of help: housing (with utilities) 48% and food 13%, from United Way's national 211 numbers for 2025 (19 million referrals). The rest is split the way 211 requests split in Western Pennsylvania in 2024, the only full breakdown we found. 211 is a phone line for local help, so Front Door's own mix will differ; our counts will show how.

Sources

  1. 1. 2-1-1 Requests/Referrals (2023-2025) and 2-1-1 Requests (2020-2023). United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, hosted by Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC); license CC BY, historical, coverage 2020-01-01 to 2025-08-27. calendar 2024 rows, level_1/level_2 classification counts Read it
  2. 2. States scramble to send full SNAP food benefits to millions of people after government shutdown ends. Associated Press (Geoff Mulvihill, David A. Lieb), via WHYY, 2025-11-13. 42 million people on SNAP; 'about two-thirds of states had issued only partial benefits or none at all'; USDA guidance Thursday Nov 13 to issue full November allotments Read it
  3. 3. Using 211 Data to Gauge Eighth District Economic Conditions. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, On the Economy (Summers-Gabr, Rodgers), 2026-02-09. Figure 3 text: food assistance requests rose in October 2025, more-substantial increases in November; data from 211 Counts dashboards for AR, IL, KY, MO, TN Read it
  4. 4. Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, all sites monthly data. The Eviction Lab, Princeton University (Hepburn, Haas, et al.), 2026 (file downloaded 2026-10-10). columns city, month, filings_2020, filings_avg, filings_avg_prepandemic_baseline. Download page: https://dev.evictionlab.org/eviction-tracking/get-the-data/ (no license stated; footer 'All rights reserved'; cite as Hepburn, Haas, et al., Eviction Tracking System: Version 3.0, Princeton University, 2026). Read it
  5. 5. A New Baseline: Changes to Our Eviction Metrics. The Eviction Lab, 2025-05-08. baseline moved to average of same months across 2023 and 2024 Read it
  6. 6. Preliminary Analysis: Eviction Filing Patterns in 2022. The Eviction Lab (Vallejo, Haas, Hepburn), 2023-03-09. text: Q4 decline 'follows a predictable seasonal pattern'; Jan 2022 ~78,000 filings, Aug 2022 >114,000 Read it
  7. 7. State Medicaid and CHIP Applications, Eligibility Determinations, and Enrollment Data (Performance Indicator dataset), September 2026 release. CMS (data.medicaid.gov), catalog record on data.gov, modified 2026-09-25. columns 'New Applications Submitted to Medicaid and CHIP Agencies' and 'Applications for Financial Assistance Submitted to the State Based Marketplace'; license U.S. Government Works (https://www.usa.gov/government-works); dataset id 6165f45b-ca93-5bb5-9d06-db29c692a360 Read it
  8. 8. Dates and deadlines for 2027 health insurance. HealthCare.gov (CMS), accessed 2026-10-10. 'Starting November 1, you can apply for 2027 coverage'; January 15 last day; enroll by December 15 for January 1 start Read it
  9. 9. Washington health insurance marketplace. healthinsurance.org, 2026-10-05. 'open enrollment period for 2027 coverage runs from November 1, 2026 through January 15, 2027 in Washington' Read it
  10. 10. 2025 Filing season statistics, weeks ending Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 28, May 2, Oct 17 2025. IRS Newsroom, 2025. 'Total returns received' row. Other pages: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-jan-31-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-feb-28-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-march-28-2025 , https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/filing-season-statistics-for-week-ending-may-2-2025 Read it
  11. 11. Working Families Tax Credit application window opens Feb. 1. Washington State Department of Revenue, 2026-01-29. window begins Feb 1, 2026 for tax year 2025; accepted through Dec 31, 2029; up to $1,330; over 675,000 refunds totaling more than $491.4 million since 2023 Read it
  12. 12. Working Families Tax Credit Program, 2025 Report to the Legislature. Washington State Department of Revenue, 2025-12-29. page 2: program begins accepting applications each year on February 1; page 3 Table 2: TY2024 approvals 284,416 (MeF 253,210, MyDOR 28,949, paper 2,257) Read it
  13. 13. IR-2016-143 (archival): refunds claiming EITC or ACTC held until at least Feb. 15. IRS, 2016-10-28. PATH Act refund hold statement Read it
  14. 14. You can begin filing your taxes on Jan. 26 this year. PBS NewsHour, 2026-01-08. 2026 filing season start Jan 26; deadline April 15 Read it
  15. 15. ETA 539 weekly claims data, ar539.csv (state-level, NSA, 1971 to present). U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, Office of Unemployment Insurance, downloaded 2026-10-10, latest week ending 2026-10-03. columns st, rptdate, c3 (initial claims). Example values: US sum week ending 2025-01-11 = 351,735 (2025 high), 2025-09-27 = 178,555 (2025 low); 2025-12-06 = 313,815; 2025-07-12 = 260,103. WA c3 week ending 2026-09-26 = 4,365. Read it
  16. 16. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims news release. U.S. Department of Labor, 2026-10-08. page 2 Unadjusted Data: 170,333 NSA initial claims week ending Oct 3; seasonal factors expected +8.7% from prior week. State table: Washington advance 4,814, prior week 4,534. Used to validate the CSV. Read it
  17. 17. Education Department opens 2027-28 FAFSA early, marking program's earliest launch. The National News Desk (Emma Koppelman), via KATU, 2026-09-24. form already open at StudentAid.gov; traditional opening Oct 1; previous earliest Sept 24, 2025; FAFSA Simplification Act requires availability by Oct 1 Read it
  18. 18. The Effect of Holidays on Calls to the National Domestic Violence Hotline: Comparing Average Call Volume. National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (VAWnet), 2020-11-20. description: 'the number of calls actually decreases during the holidays, including on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day' (2004-2019 data in linked PDFs, not opened) Read it
  19. 19. #CallUtilitiesNow: PUC urges consumers to contact utilities as winter termination moratorium ends March 31, 2023. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, 2023-03-28. 'Between December 1st and March 31st' no shutoffs to income-eligible households; electric, gas, heat-related water Read it
  20. 20. WAC 480-100-143 Winter low-income payment program. Washington State Legislature, current code, accessed 2026-10-10. 'between November 15th and March 15th' utility may not disconnect residential space heating if customer meets conditions (notify, self-certify income, apply for energy assistance, pay plan) Read it
  21. 21. LIHEAP. Washington State Department of Commerce, accessed 2026-10-10. program year Oct 1 to Sep 30; apply once per program year through local agency; income up to 150% FPL Read it
  22. 22. Nearly 1 million assistance calls made to 211 in August. The Source, Washington University in St. Louis (Neil Schoenherr), 2023-09-20. ~150,000 utility payment requests Aug 2023 (+22% vs July); Kreuter: utility payments a particular challenge in late summer Read it
  23. 23. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2025 data). United Way Worldwide, 2026-03-31. 19 million referrals; housing 6 million, 31%; utilities 3.1 million; food 2.5 million; 27 states where housing+utilities > half Read it
  24. 24. The Facts About 211: 2025 Impact Snapshot. United Way Worldwide, 2026. housing 6M (30%), utilities 3.1M, food 2.5M; ranks #4-#7 without counts Read it
  25. 25. 211 helpline data reveals most pressing U.S. community needs (2024 data). United Way Worldwide, 2025-03-26. 16.8M requests, >18M referrals; housing 5.6M, utilities 2.9M, food 2.5M; housing+utilities 47% Read it
  26. 26. Calls to 211 helpline rise in August to the highest level of 2023. Health Communication Research Lab, Washington University in St. Louis (Garg, Golla, Kreuter), 2023-09-09. 872,079 calls Aug vs 785,654 Jul; ~150,000 utility payment requests (+22%); >280,000 housing (+8%) Read it