San Jose Benefits is a free community guide to the help that already exists in San Jose and Santa Clara County — food assistance, health coverage, rent and utility help, cash aid, child care, veterans’ benefits, and more — gathered in one place and explained in plain words.
We are NOT a government agency. We are not the County of Santa Clara, not the State of California, and not part of any program we list. We don’t decide who qualifies for anything. We check each program against the organization’s own website or office, write down exactly who it helps, what it takes to apply, and who to call — then we keep checking.
Why we built it: you can earn what sounds like good money in San Jose and still not make rent — and the help that exists runs through a lot of doors. The county runs CalFresh, Medi-Cal, and CalWORKs. The city’s power company stacks its own discount on PG&E’s. Rent help starts with a phone call most people have never heard of. Nobody hands you the whole map, so we drew it: 182 verified programs, one checker, and guides that open with your problem and name a real door for it.
One more thing, because it matters here: health coverage rules changed on January 1, 2026. If you already have Medi-Cal, the most valuable thing you can do is renew on time — this site will keep saying so, with the current rules and the dates attached, checked against the state’s own pages.
How to use this site:
- Check what you qualify for — answer a few questions, get your programs in order, problem first.
- Browse the directory — every verified program in Santa Clara County, with phone numbers, addresses, and directions.
- Read a guide — the step-by-step for the big ones: rent help, CalFresh, Medi-Cal renewal, PG&E bills, and how housing lists really work.
- Or let us do it — Apply for Me: tell us your situation and a person builds your guide and emails it to you, free.
The site is in English and Spanish, and the checker and the top guides are also in Vietnamese. Every listing on this site was verified against the organization’s own website or office in October 2026, and we re-check on a schedule. If you find something wrong, the “Report a problem” link on every program page goes straight to a person.
Questions: support@sanjosebenefits.com
