New Hampshire assistance programs

New Hampshire runs its family benefits from Concord with no county layer: the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) decides FANF cash and the NH Child Care Scholarship statewide through its District Offices and the NH EASY portal, while the Department of Energy hands heating and electric help to five Community Action Agencies and New Hampshire Housing reaches buyers only through approved lenders. Two categories have no state grant at all: there is no startup grant for businesses, and no single agency awards a statewide student grant.

Where you apply depends on the program, not the town. Cash assistance and child care go through DHHS: one application on NH EASY or at a District Office covers FANF, SNAP, Medicaid and child care. Fuel Assistance, the Electric Assistance Program discount and weatherization share one application at the Community Action Agency for your county, and all three use the same 2026-27 limit of 60% of state median income. Homebuyer help is reserved by an NH Housing approved lender; you never apply to NH Housing directly. The New Hampshire energy guide lists which agency serves each county.

Several New Hampshire programs are not what their names suggest. NH Housing's $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 Cash Assistance Mortgage is a 0% second mortgage repaid when you sell or refinance, never forgiven, and the agency stopped issuing Mortgage Credit Certificates on Dec. 13, 2024; Nashua and Portsmouth run their own city programs. All $61.5 million of the state's SSBCI money sits in Business Finance Authority loan participations, so the closest thing to a business grant is WorkInvestNH, which pays back half of approved training costs. The New Hampshire homebuyer guide and small business guide sort each program by what it actually pays.

For college, the FAFSA is the only application: New Hampshire has no state alternative form. UNIQUE grants, funded by the state's 529 plan and allocated by the State Treasury, are handed out by each college to Pell-eligible residents, and the University System's New Hampshire Promise covers tuition for families earning up to $100,000 from fall 2027. Short-term job training runs through WIOA at the 12 NH Works offices. New Hampshire also has no state-funded pre-K, so preschool help comes through the Child Care Scholarship, Head Start and preschool special education; see the child care guide and student grants guide.