How to Get Financial Help from the LDS Church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides temporary financial assistance to cover basic needs—such as rent, utilities, and medical bills—to anyone in the community, regardless of religious affiliation.

How to Get Financial Help from the LDS Church

Food and Commodity Assistance

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides food, hygiene items, and household products free of charge through a network of centers known as Bishops’ Storehouses. This program operates like a well-stocked, private grocery store and is open to anyone in the community experiencing a crisis.

First, you must contact the local Church leader (the bishop) assigned to your area. Use the official Meetinghouse Locator tool to find your designated local congregation. During the meeting, the leader will assess your household’s immediate food needs. Instead of giving you a generic box of food, he will complete a personalized “Bishop’s Order for Commodities” form, either digitally or on paper.

Next, you will take this order form to the nearest Bishops’ Storehouse. A volunteer will accompany you through the aisles to help you gather the specific items—meat, dairy, canned goods, fresh produce, and hygiene products—authorized on your form. There are no checkout counters and no cost involved.

Available products

• Fresh and non-perishable foods: Meat, milk, cheese, butter, eggs, bread, flour, pasta, rice, beans, fruits, and vegetables.
• Special dietary products: Infant formula, baby food, and basic gluten-free or allergy-friendly options.
• Hygiene products: Soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet paper, diapers, and feminine hygiene products.
• Cleaning supplies: Laundry detergent, dish soap, and general household cleaners.

Note: You cannot simply walk into a Bishops’ Storehouse to buy food or request assistance directly. An official order form signed by a local bishop or the Relief Society president is required.

Job Training and Professional Support

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers comprehensive career guidance and job placement programs through its network of Employment Services and local self-reliance groups. Like the Church’s other welfare programs, these professional services are entirely free and available to anyone in the community, regardless of religious beliefs.

1. Employment Services and Career Centers

The Church operates dedicated employment resource centers worldwide to provide practical career guidance.

Personalized guidance: Staff members help you define your career goals, create a modern résumé, and practice interview strategies.

Job placement assistance: Centers maintain up-to-date databases of local employers, upcoming job fairs, and available openings.

Job skills workshops: You can attend free seminars on networking, using digital platforms like LinkedIn, and salary negotiation.

2. Self-reliance groups

For a more structured approach, you can join a local “Find a Better Job” group. These are workshops featuring peer support where participants meet weekly.

Small groups: You meet with 8 to 12 people to share information about opportunities, practice interviews, and support each other in achieving goals. Action-oriented program: The course focuses primarily on active, daily job-search tactics rather than theory.

Comprehensive programs: In addition to job searching, the Church offers parallel self-reliance programs on starting and growing a business, education for better employment, and personal finance.

3. Deseret Industries (DI) training program

In regions where Deseret Industries (the Church-owned chain of thrift stores) operates, the locations function as comprehensive job training centers.

Paid job training: Participants are hired as store employees, receiving a steady wage while learning fundamental job skills.

Technical certifications: DI collaborates with local technical schools to help employees obtain certifications in areas such as welding, commercial driving (CDL), nursing assistance (CNA), or forklift operation.

Career coaches: Each employee is assigned a professional career coach who helps them transition from DI to permanent employment with career growth potential.

4. BYU-Pathway Worldwide

If you lack the necessary training for the career path you wish to pursue, this online program offers flexible, low-cost higher education. Certification-first approach: Earn in-demand professional certifications (such as web development, project management, or accounting) during your first year.

Pathway to a college degree: These certifications integrate directly into fully accredited bachelor’s degree programs from BYU-Idaho or Ensign College.

Drastically reduced tuition: Costs are significantly lower than at traditional universities, and no upfront tuition payments are required.

Mental Health Services

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers professional, structured mental health and counseling resources through Family Services (formerly known as LDS Family Services). These clinical programs are designed to support individuals, couples, and families facing psychological, emotional, or relational challenges.

Unlike basic food or employment services, accessing professional counseling through the Church typically involves a specific process.

1. Available clinical and counseling services

Family Services employs licensed clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, and professional counselors to address a wide range of needs:

Individual and marriage therapy: Clinical treatment for depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, and marital conflict.

Addiction Recovery Program (ARP): A free 12-step recovery program that adapts the traditional Alcoholics Anonymous model by incorporating spiritual principles. It helps individuals overcome substance abuse, pornography use, gambling, or eating disorders.

Consultation for leaders: Counselors provide guidance to local Church leaders on how best to support members facing severe psychiatric crises or safety issues.

2. How to access and pay for counseling

While support groups are free, professional individual therapy generally requires a referral and financial coordination:

Start with the bishop: To have the Church assist with counseling costs, you must first schedule a private meeting with your local bishop using the Meetinghouse Locator tool.

Bishop’s referral: If the bishop determines that professional care beyond his pastoral role is needed, he can issue a formal referral to Family Services.

Financial assistance: Family Services uses a sliding fee scale based on an individual’s ability to pay. If you cannot afford the fee and do not have health insurance, the bishop may use local Church humanitarian funds (fast offerings) to help pay for your therapy sessions.

3. Free peer-led support groups

If you do not wish to speak with a bishop or do not require formal individual therapy, the Church offers free, confidential community support groups that anyone can join anonymously:

Addiction recovery meetings: Weekly support groups led by a trained facilitator and a Church-service missionary. Separate groups are available for individuals struggling with specific behaviors and for their spouses or family members.

Support groups for spouses and family members: Dedicated spaces for family members to find healing and coping strategies when a loved one is struggling with mental health issues or addiction.

Where to find meetings: You can find both in-person and virtual (Zoom) meetings worldwide using the Addiction Recovery Program’s official meeting locator.

Support for immigrants

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers extensive, free local assistance to immigrants, refugees, and displaced persons through its Immigrant Services Initiative. These services are designed to help individuals safely integrate into their new communities and are open to anyone, regardless of religious affiliation, nationality, or legal immigration status.

The Church operates more than a dozen physical immigrant welcome centers across North America. These centers are staffed by volunteers and service missionaries who provide a safe, welcoming environment for families starting their lives in a new country.

English classes: Free English classes are held directly at the centers to help non-native speakers overcome communication barriers.

Cultural adaptation workshops: Volunteers lead interactive classes explaining local transportation systems, U.S. or Canadian workplace culture, and community norms.

Emotional resilience support: Structured peer support groups help immigrants manage the stress, isolation, and trauma that often accompany displacement.

For more information on specific locations and available legal clinics, consult the Provident Living Immigrant Services resource network.

How to obtain financial assistance from the LDS Church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offers temporary financial assistance to cover basic needs—such as rent, utilities, and medical bills—for anyone in the community, regardless of religious affiliation.

The following details how the process works and how to apply for assistance.

1. Locate your nearest congregation

All financial assistance is managed locally by a congregation (called a “ward”).

Visit the official meetinghouse locator tool on the Church’s website.

Enter your home address to find the specific ward assigned to your geographic area.

Note the meeting times, location, and the name or contact information of the bishop (the lay leader who oversees that specific area).

2. Contact the Bishop

The bishop is the only person authorized to approve local financial assistance.

Attend a Sunday service to meet the bishop in person, or call the contact number listed in the locator tool.

Request an appointment to discuss welfare assistance.

If you are unable to reach the bishop, contact the Relief Society president (the leader of the women’s organization) or the elders quorum president, as they often assist the bishop with initial interviews.

3. Complete the initial interview

You will meet privately and confidentially to assess your needs.

Be transparent: Bring copies of bills you cannot pay (for example, overdue rent notices, utility bills, or medical expenses).

Focus on essentials: The Church prioritizes vital needs (housing, water, electricity, essential medications) over consumer debt or luxury expenses.

Be prepared to discuss self-reliance: The bishop will ask about your current income, your budget, and what family or community resources you have already explored.

4. Understand how payments are made

If your request is approved, the Church manages the funds according to a strict protocol:

No direct cash disbursement: The Church almost never gives cash or checks directly to the applicant.

Direct payment to the provider: The bishop will issue a Church check payable to your landlord, utility company, or medical service provider.

Bishop’s Storehouse: To allow you to use your money for bills, the bishop will often give you a “Bishop’s Order for Commodities.” This allows you to pick up a standard assortment of free food and hygiene items at a local Church-owned storehouse.

5. Expected commitments

Church financial assistance is designed to serve as a temporary bridge to self-reliance, not as a long-term allowance. In exchange for assistance, you may be asked to:

Take a free course at the local congregation on budgeting, job searching, or personal finance.

Volunteer at a local bishop’s storehouse, a Church farm, or a community service project, if your physical condition allows.