Collecting Eligibility Documents

Many financial assistance programs require you to bring proof of things like identity, income, residency, and household size. Although a clinic may have a list of documents that you could use to prove these things, there might be other ways you can prove what they are looking for. The question you should ask yourself is: What documents do I have that show what they are looking for?

Here are some ideas of documents you may have that would help prove these categories:

Identity
Note that some of the other documents in other categories could also help prove identity

• Birth certificate
• Passport
• Matrícula Consular
• Voter registration card from your home country
• Official school transcript
• Student ID
• USCIS cards like Employment Authorization Documents, Advance Parole, Refugee Travel Documents, Re-entry permits, Border Crossing Cards, Visas, Green Cards
• Employer ID card
• Contracts (for example, loan contract)
• Library Card
• Hunting or fishing license
• Medical records or medical bills

Income or assets

• Check stubs
• Letter from your employer about how much you earn every week
• Tax returns
• Medicaid card
• Any account statements, including:

• Bank accounts (checking and savings)
• Retirement accounts (401K, IRA)
• Investment accounts (stocks/bonds)

• Rent receipt or statement from your landlord
• Any letter showing you qualify for some other income-contingent program (for example, services from another organization, WIC, etc.)
• Any documents related to unemployment awards or denials
• Court orders for child support or alimony payments
• Personal work or day labor records (for example, records showing jobs lawn mowing, painting, babysitting, house cleaning)
• School free or reduced lunch paperwork

Residency

• Recent utility bill or cell phone bill with current address
• Lease agreement (if you don’t have a lease agreement and you live in Texas, you could use this template to get started with your landlord)
• Rent or mortgage receipt, or statement from your landlord
• Multiple pieces of mail with your name and address

Household size

• Marriage license or divorce decree
• Children’s school records (report card, transcript)
• Children’s birth certificates

One way you can sometimes meet requirements when you are missing information is to provide a sworn statement from someone else. For example, you could present a sworn statement from your employer that verifies that you work somewhere and how much you are paid. (Check out this example that Parkland uses for its program.) Or, you could present a sworn statement from your landlord that verifies where you live and how much you pay in rent.