If you're having trouble paying rent, start looking for help as early as possible. Durham has programs that may help with past-due rent, eviction prevention, utilities, emergency housing, and other expenses that can free up money for housing.
Programs and funding change frequently, so we've collected the starting points most likely to connect Durham residents with current assistance.
If you think you may have trouble making a payment, contact us as early as possible. We may also be able to point you toward local assistance resources. We cannot guarantee a payment arrangement or financial assistance, but communicating early gives everyone more options.
Contact MinmosaPrograms, funding and phone numbers change. Confirm details with each organization, and see the note at the end of this page about what using these programs does and does not change.
This is the best moment to act. Most assistance programs are easier to access before an account is badly past due, and a conversation now is worth more than an explanation later.
United Way of North Carolina
A free, confidential referral line for rent, utility, food, housing and other emergency assistance. Trained staff search current local programs and tell you what is open right now.
Who it may help: Open to anyone in North Carolina. No income test to call.
Hours: Available 24 hours a day. Also reachable on 1-888-892-1162.
Durham County is the main starting point for help with past-due rent. Eligibility depends on your circumstances and on what is currently funded, so it is worth calling to be screened rather than ruling yourself out.
Legal Aid of North Carolina, Duke Law Civil Justice Clinic and Durham DSS
Free legal help for Durham County renters facing eviction, combining legal advocacy, tenant education and rental assistance. There is also a walk-in clinic at the courthouse.
Who it may help: Aimed at low-income renters in Durham County. Contact them as soon as you receive court papers — timing matters.
Hours: Durham line and courthouse clinic Monday to Friday, 9am to 12pm. Statewide helpline Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm.
In person: Courthouse clinic: Durham County Courthouse, 3rd floor, Room 3200
Durham County Department of Social Services
Durham County’s own crisis and rental assistance programs, including help for households behind on rent or facing an eviction filing. When you call, say that you have a late rent notice or an eviction court filing; staff screen which program, if any, currently applies.
Who it may help: Durham County residents. Requirements include proof of residency and income criteria, and they change with funding — call to be screened rather than ruling yourself out.
In person: 414 E. Main Street, Durham, NC 27701
Volunteers of America Chesapeake & Carolinas
Help for veterans and their families who are homeless or about to lose their housing. Case managers can make time-limited payments directly to landlords and utility companies when that keeps a veteran housed, alongside help finding a place to live.
Who it may help: Households where the veteran is the head of household or their spouse, with income at or below 50 percent of the area median, who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
In person: 3710 University Drive, Suite 218, Durham, NC 27707
Not sure which of these applies to you? Call NC 211 on 211 and they will screen you against what is currently open.
Get help promptly. Court deadlines are short and they matter — the sooner someone looks at your paperwork, the more can usually be done.
Applying for assistance does not by itself pause an eviction case or extend a court deadline. Keep any court date you have been given, and get advice about your specific situation — nothing on this page is legal advice.
Legal Aid of North Carolina
Free civil legal help for North Carolinians aged 60 and older, including eviction, subsidized housing, repairs and utility problems.
Who it may help: North Carolina residents aged 60 or older.
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 11am and 1pm to 3pm.
Also helps here, listed in full above:
Utility help is worth pursuing even when rent is the bigger problem. Reducing or spreading a utility balance can free up money for housing, and these programs are often separate from rental assistance.
City of Durham Water Management
Payment extensions, installment plans to pay down a past-due balance, and hardship assistance for eligible water and sewer customers inside the city limits.
Who it may help: City of Durham water customers. Hardship assistance has its own eligibility criteria; payment plans and arrangements are more widely available.
Durham County Department of Social Services
Help with a heating or cooling emergency — past-due energy accounts, disconnected service, or getting service established. Covers electric, natural gas, LP gas, kerosene and wood.
Who it may help: Durham County households experiencing or at risk of a heating-related or energy-related crisis, subject to income requirements. Apply and be screened rather than ruling yourself out.
NC DHHS, through Durham County DSS
A once-a-year payment sent straight to your heating company to help with winter heating bills. It is seasonal: households with someone 60 or older, or a disabled person receiving services through the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, can apply December 1–31; everyone else from January 1 to March 31, or until the money runs out.
Who it may help: Households that pay their own heating costs and meet an income test, with at least one member who is a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen. If heat is included in your rent, this program does not apply.
Duke Energy, through Durham County DSS
Help paying a past-due Duke Energy balance, an unpaid deposit, or a reconnection charge. The money is given out through county social services rather than by Duke Energy directly. For a payment arrangement on your account, call the number on your Duke Energy bill.
Who it may help: Duke Energy customers who meet state income guidelines and have a past-due balance, unpaid deposit or unpaid reconnection charge. Apply through Durham County DSS or online at ePASS.
Enbridge Gas North Carolina
Durham’s natural gas company, formerly PSNC Energy. Call about a payment arrangement on a past-due bill, or switch to Budget Billing to spread the year’s cost over 12 equal payments. Enbridge also sponsors the Salvation Army’s Heat Care Fund for customers who need help with heating bills.
Who it may help: Enbridge Gas North Carolina customers. Payment arrangements and Budget Billing are account options; Heat Care Fund help is decided by the Salvation Army.
For electricity, the customer service number printed on your own bill is the most reliable one to call — it routes you to the right part of the utility for your account. NC 211 (211) also tracks utility assistance funds as they open and close.
These are emergency housing and homelessness services, which work differently from rental assistance. Rental assistance tries to keep you in the home you have; these services help when that is no longer possible.
Durham Crisis Response Center
Support for people experiencing domestic or sexual violence, including help finding somewhere safe to stay. If you are leaving an unsafe home, contact them rather than Entry Point.
City and County of Durham
The way into Durham’s homelessness services. A trained team talks through your situation and connects you with shelter, healthcare and other support where it is available.
Who it may help: For people who are experiencing or about to experience homelessness. Entry Point is not itself a housing program and cannot promise shelter or housing.
Hours: Weekdays 8am–5pm in person; phone until 8pm on weekdays.
In person: Durham Human Services Building, Coordinated Entry, 1st floor, 414 E. Main Street, Durham, NC 27701
Durham Rescue Mission
Emergency shelter with meals and clothing: a shelter for men on East Main Street, and the Good Samaritan Inn for women and mothers with children on East Knox Street. A Christian ministry; its longer programs include Bible-based counseling.
Who it may help: Men, and women or mothers with children, who need somewhere safe to stay. Call the shelter you need to ask about space.
In person: Good Samaritan Inn (women and children): 507 E. Knox Street, Durham, NC 27701
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
A free, confidential line for veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and for family members calling on their behalf. Trained VA counselors connect you to your nearest VA and to local help.
Who it may help: Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and family members, friends or supporters calling on their behalf.
Hours: Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Urban Ministries of Durham
Durham’s primary public emergency shelter for single men and women, with a few rooms for families. It also runs a community café, food pantry and clothing closet. Shelter stays start with an intake by phone through Entry Point Durham.
Who it may help: Adults experiencing homelessness in Durham. Call Entry Point Durham on 984-287-8313 to begin a shelter intake.
Hours: Shelter front desk open 24 hours (extension 5288).
Also helps here, listed in full above:
Durham adds shelter space during cold weather and through the winter months, known as White Flag shelter. Call Entry Point Durham or NC 211 to find out what is open.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 at any time. Alliance Health, Durham’s public behavioral health agency, also runs a crisis line on 877-223-4617.
Not sure which of these applies to you? Call NC 211 on 211 and they will screen you against what is currently open.
When rent has simply become more than you can afford, the longer-term answer is usually a home with lower or income-based rent. These routes take time, often months, so start them alongside any emergency help rather than instead of it.
Durham Housing Authority
Public housing and Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8), where rent is based on a share of your household income. This is longer-term help, not emergency assistance: waiting lists are long and open only at certain times.
Who it may help: Income-qualified households. Ask which waiting lists are open now, and apply online when one is.
NC Housing Finance Agency and NC DHHS
A free search of rentals across North Carolina, from market-rate to affordable, including accessible units and housing for seniors and veterans. A toll-free helpline can search with you.
Who it may help: Anyone looking for a rental in North Carolina.
Hours: Helpline Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm.
Rent is rarely the only pressure. Reducing a grocery or childcare bill frees up money for housing, and these programs are separate from rental assistance — you can pursue both.
Durham County Department of Social Services
Monthly food benefits for low-income households. Freeing up a grocery budget is often the fastest way to make rent reachable.
Who it may help: Income-based. Apply online, by phone, by fax, or in person at the Human Services Building.
Hours: Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm.
In person: 414 E. Main Street, Durham, NC 27701
Durham County Department of Social Services
Help with the cost of childcare for eligible Durham County families. New applicants join a waitlist kept by Durham County DSS, so it is worth getting on it early.
Who it may help: Eligibility is determined by Durham County DSS. Call or email DSSChildCareWaitlist@dconc.gov to be added to the waitlist, or check your place on it through the county website.
In person: 414 E. Main Street, Durham, NC 27701
Also helps here, listed in full above:
Not sure which of these applies to you? Call NC 211 on 211 and they will screen you against what is currently open.
Congregations and small nonprofits in Durham do help people with rent and utilities, and that help is real. It is also the hardest kind to list accurately.
These funds change constantly. They open and close applications, run out partway through a month, restrict help to a particular area or congregation, or pause entirely. Any fixed list published here would be wrong within weeks, and sending someone to a number that has stopped answering wastes time they may not have.
NC 211 is the practical route. They maintain current information on which local congregations and nonprofits are taking applications right now, and they can screen for several at once.
If you already have a connection to a congregation, community organization or cultural association, ask them directly — many help their own members first, and that help does not appear in any public directory.
Also helps here, listed in full above:
Programs, funding, eligibility requirements, phone numbers, and availability can change. Contact the organization directly to confirm current information.
Assistance programs are operated by third parties. Minmosa does not run them, has no say in who they help, and receives nothing for referring you. Eligibility, applying for assistance, or contacting a resource does not change your lease obligations or payment deadlines unless Minmosa agrees otherwise in writing.
Resources last reviewed .