Helping Hands of Putnam County

Helping Hands of Putnam County serves low income families and families experiencing an emergency in Putnam County. We are best known for our food shelf – which has averaged giving 170 families a month food during 2018. While food is the largest service we provide, we also help with utility payments, rent, medications and gas vouchers to get to doctor appointments outside of Putnam County. When someone comes to our office, they go through an interview process. We take income information and try to determine what other resources we can offer them such as how to apply for food stamps, public housing, TN Care, Legal Aid, or adult education. Most of the families we serve are families of 1-2 and most of those are elderly who are having to choose between food or medications and only get $16 in food stamps. Though the number of families we see has decreased over the last couple of years due to more jobs in the area, many of the people we see are in dire need due to circumstances beyond their control such as illness – either them or a family member – or bad accidents.