Get Help
A safe place to sleep, food for the week, help with a bill, or care for an aging parent: here's where to turn across Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, and the surrounding North Georgia counties.
Right now
These lines are free, confidential, and answered around the clock. If you're not sure where to start, call 211 and they'll point you to the right place. Many services on this page also offer help in Spanish; look for the Español tag.
Life-threatening emergency
Police, fire, or ambulance for any emergency, crime in progress, or medical crisis.
Georgia 211 (United Way)
Free, confidential help finding food, housing, shelter, utilities, and healthcare anywhere in Georgia. When in doubt, start here.
Text your ZIP to 898211 · available 24/7 online · Spanish available
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
24/7 support for any mental-health, emotional, or substance crisis. In Georgia, 988 is answered by the Georgia Crisis & Access Line.
Call or text 988 · GCAL also at 1-800-715-4225
Domestic Violence Hotline
Confidential 24/7 safety planning and support for anyone facing abuse.
Text START to 88788
Veterans Crisis Line
24/7 crisis support for veterans, service members, and their families.
Text 838255
Georgia homeless assistance line
Statewide line (Balance of State Continuum of Care) connecting people who are homeless or about to be to shelter and rehousing.
Serves Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Lumpkin & White counties
If you've come to this page, you may be carrying a heavy load. Please know that you are not a burden, and you are not alone. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and He has never been ashamed to sit with people in need.
We've gathered the resources below to make it easier to find help close to home. We're a small church and can't meet every need ourselves, but we'd count it a privilege to pray with you, point you in the right direction, or simply listen. Reach out any time.
Where to start
Or browse by type: Emergency shelter & housing Families & children Food Rent, utilities & emergency assistance Jobs & income Legal help & child support Seniors & people with disabilities Medical, dental & mental health Veterans Government benefits & housing
Get help
Beds are limited across North Georgia, and several counties have no year-round general shelter. If you're fleeing abuse, the domestic-violence shelters below can take you and your children right away. Families with children: try Family Promise and the Salvation Army. Single men: Good News at Noon. If nothing has room, call 211 or the Georgia homeless line above.
Free, confidential 24/7 emergency shelter and crisis hotline for victims of domestic violence and their children, plus transitional housing and court/legal advocacy.
Shelter location is kept confidential for safety.
Free emergency shelter, transitional housing, a 24-hour crisis line, and legal advocacy for victims of domestic violence.
24-hour emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence and their children, with food, clothing, transportation, and necessities. Free and confidential.
Sheltering and empowerment for families with children who are homeless or at risk, plus transitional housing, daycare, and a family food market.
Temporary housing with case management for families in crisis, plus a seasonal overnight warming center on cold nights.
The warming center is seasonal and weather-dependent — call to confirm it's open.
Emergency shelter for men, women, and families with food and basic-needs support, plus emergency financial assistance (Project SHARE).
Call ahead — shelter intake hours vary.
The county's main safety-net agency: financial assistance (rent, utilities, medical, transportation), a food pantry, and help applying for federal aid.
A referral and assistance hub, not an overnight shelter.
Men's residential shelter plus daily meals, clothing, and personal-care items. Serves as Hall County's overnight option during cold-weather activations.
Get help
For parents working to keep a household together: childcare so you can work, health coverage and food for the kids, diapers, and help keeping children in school through a move.
Georgia's Childcare and Parent Services program helps low-income working parents — including those job-searching, in training, or in school — pay for childcare at approved providers.
Apply online through Georgia Gateway (gateway.ga.gov).
Free help finding affordable, quality-rated childcare and walking through the CAPS subsidy application — a specialist answers your questions.
Free early childhood education for income-eligible families — Head Start (ages 3–4) and Early Head Start (6 weeks–3 years at select sites) — with meals, health screenings, and family support.
Free healthy food, infant formula, breastfeeding support, and nutrition help for pregnant or postpartum women, infants, and children under 5 who meet income guidelines.
Low- or no-cost health insurance for uninsured children under 19 who don't qualify for Medicaid — covers primary, dental, and vision care.
Apply online at Georgia Gateway (gateway.ga.gov).
Little Steps daycare for children 6 weeks–4 years (with scholarships covering up to two weeks of free childcare during a job search), plus a monthly diaper bank.
Daycare enrollment is by referral from a caseworker or partner-agency advocate.
Free diapers for families in need, through partner agencies and a monthly public distribution at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Gainesville.
If your family is doubled up, in a motel or shelter, or otherwise without stable housing, these school staff help children enroll right away (even without records), keep their school, get transportation, and receive free meals.
Get help
Georgia Mountain Food Bank supplies dozens of local pantries. Its online finder always has the current list and hours. A few of the larger pantries are listed here; call before you go, as hours change.
Regional food bank supplying pantries and mobile food distributions. Use the “Find an Agency Near You” tool to locate the closest open pantry.
Food pantry plus a furniture bank, counseling, and job-placement help.
Emergency food boxes, no restrictions.
Food pantry plus monthly shelf-stable food delivery for qualified families.
Free food staples, toiletries, and more — once per month per family.
Get help
These agencies help with energy bills, eviction prevention, and one-time crisis needs. Most require an appointment and proof of income, so call early, as funds run out.
The community-action agency for the region: energy-bill assistance (LIHEAP), eviction prevention, weatherization, and housing programs. By appointment only.
Apply for your county of residence; seniors and homebound applicants are scheduled first.
One-time emergency aid for a crisis threatening the home — a utility bill, partial rent, or emergency prescription (up to $500 per household / 12 months). By appointment with ID and proof of residence.
Case-by-case help with housing, utilities, and fuel (paid to the company, not cash). Does not cover deposits, phone, or internet.
Emergency food boxes, utility assistance, and hygiene, clothing, and school-supply closets, plus referrals.
Get help
Free job search, training, and one-on-one case management to help you find steadier income. Several of these also help with childcare and transportation while you train.
Free job-search help, reemployment services, resume help, and unemployment support, plus access to GeorgiaWorks job listings.
Federally funded job training (tuition, books, supplies) with support for transportation and childcare, plus job placement for adults, youth, and laid-off workers.
Free career coaching, resume and cover-letter help, computers, job boards, job fairs, and skills training, with placement support after you finish.
Intensive one-on-one case management that helps families with children build a plan toward stability, connecting them to job training, childcare, housing, legal, and health resources.
Free GED/HiSET prep and free English (ESL) and citizenship classes, with digital and financial literacy, offered at centers in each county.
All classes are free; register through the “I'M READY” portal.
Helps people with disabilities prepare for, find, and keep a job — training, counseling, and placement support.
Get help
Free or low-cost help with divorce, custody, protective orders, evictions, benefit denials, and getting the child support you're owed. For these counties, the one to call is Georgia Legal Services, not Atlanta Legal Aid.
Free civil legal help for low-income North Georgians — divorce, child custody and support, domestic-violence protective orders, eviction/housing, and benefit denials.
Apply by phone or online at gaoi.legalserver.org. Does not handle criminal cases; free interpretation provided.
Free help for people handling their own divorce or legitimation case without a lawyer, including reviewing your paperwork before a final hearing. By appointment.
Appointments are free (court filing fees still apply). Email nejcflic@hallcounty.org to schedule.
State program to open a child-support case — establish paternity, set up, enforce, or modify a support order, and locate the other parent. Apply online or by phone.
Local offices: Gainesville (Hall & Dawson), Dahlonega (Lumpkin & White), Canton (Forsyth). Lobbies open Tue–Thu 9 AM–3 PM.
Free phone advice from attorneys for older Georgians and their families — benefits, housing, Medicaid/Medicare, powers of attorney, and elder abuse.
Get help
Legacy Link is the regional Area Agency on Aging. One call connects older adults and caregivers to home-delivered meals, in-home help, and benefits. County senior centers offer meals, activities, and transportation.
The Aging & Disability Resource Connection — a single front door to home-delivered meals (Meals on Wheels), in-home services, caregiver help, and benefits screening.
Senior activity center: fitness, classes, hot lunches, screenings, and social activities.
Congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, memory-support respite, and transportation.
Activities, Meals on Wheels, transportation, and respite & memory care.
Daily hot meals, home-delivered meals for the homebound, transportation, and Medicare/Rx help.
Get help
Free and low-cost clinics for those without insurance, plus the region's behavioral-health and crisis provider.
Free medical, dental, eye care, pharmacy, and behavioral-health services.
Free healthcare for uninsured adults — general visits, chronic-illness care, bloodwork, and prescriptions.
Free primary medical, dental, vision, mental-health care, and medication assistance.
Mental-health, substance-use, and developmental-disability services, including a 24/7 behavioral-health crisis center. No one is turned away for inability to pay.
Get help
Help filing VA benefit claims — disability, pension, and healthcare enrollment — for veterans and their families.
VA outpatient clinic — primary care, lab, podiatry, dental, and telehealth.
Get help
Apply for food stamps, cash assistance, Medicaid, and housing help through these state agencies.
Apply for SNAP (food stamps), TANF cash assistance, and Medicaid online through Georgia Gateway, or at your county DFCS office.
Housing Choice (Section 8) rental vouchers and the statewide homeless-assistance / coordinated-entry system.
Public housing communities, with units geared toward elderly and disabled residents.
This list was checked in June 2026, but hours, eligibility, and phone numbers change. Please call ahead before you go. If something here is out of date, or you know of a resource we should add, please let us know. We want this page to be a real help to our neighbors. For the most current referrals at any hour, dial 211.
