Cook County, Illinois vs Maricopa County, Arizona

AABD Cash is a state cash-assistance supplement for Illinois residents age 65+, blind, or disabled who have little or no income. It supplements federal SSI up to the Illinois payment standard and is available to some seniors who do not qualify for SSI. Administered by IDHS; apply through ABE (abe.illinois.gov) or a local Family Community Resource Center.

Estimated cash: $600–$6,000 a year

Cook County emergency aid: (1) DISTINCTIVE to Illinois — township General Assistance (GA): suburban Cook County townships (e.g., Proviso, Thornton, Maine, Niles, Cicero, Worth, and others) provide emergency 'General Assistance' for residents with little or no income — help with rent, utilities, food, and personal needs (this is Illinois's analog to Indiana's township trustee relief). Find your township supervisor through the county. (2) For City of Chicago residents (Chicago is NOT in a township), the city's Department of Family & Support Services Community Service Centers + the Utility Billing Relief program. (3) CEDA for LIHEAP/CSBG utility and rent help. (4) Cook County Health CareLink for medical bills. (5) Salvation Army / St. Vincent de Paul / Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. (6) Greater Chicago Food Depository. (7) Dial 211.

Estimated bill savings: $200–$3,000 a year

Comprehensive Care in Residential Settings is an Illinois demonstration project that offers a social model of affordable assisted living. It combines affordable rent with state-assisted care services provided through the Illinois Department on Aging's Community Care Program. Services include 24-hour security, three meals a day, help with activities of daily living, an emergency response system, housekeeping, laundry, and medication management. Services are tailored to each resident through an assessment done by a local Care Coordination Unit. To qualify you must be 60 or older, live in Illinois, be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen, have non-exempt assets of $17,500 or less (your home, car, and personal furnishings do not count), have an assessed need for long-term care measured by the Determination of Need assessment, and apply for Medicaid. Call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 to find your local Care Coordination Unit.

Affordable assisted living for people who would otherwise need a nursing home. Illinois Medicaid pays a certified Supportive Living Program building for personal care, medication oversight, intermittent nursing, meals and snacks, housekeeping, laundry, social and health programs, and 24-hour staff. The resident lives in an apartment with a kitchenette and private bathroom and pays only room and board (a monthly charge based on the SSI rate; residents keep a $120 personal needs allowance). It is for Illinois residents age 65 and older, or ages 22 to 64 with a physical disability, who are screened as needing nursing-facility level of care. Find a certified building on the HFS provider list and call the Bureau of Long-Term Care at 217-782-0545 or toll-free 844-528-8444.

H.O.P.E. helps people living in a Cook County nursing facility who want to move back into the community. If you have lived in a Cook County nursing facility for at least 60 days and qualify for Medicaid, a H.O.P.E. team member works with you and your facility care team on a person-centered plan — housing, services and supports — and helps protect your rights during the move. There is no cost to take part. To start, call 800-699-9043, ask your facility's Social Service Director, or speak to a H.O.P.E. team member when they visit your facility.

Illinois Care Connections provides free technology and assistive devices to Illinoisans age 60 and older who live in the community. Devices are meant to help people stay safely at home, take part in activities, and keep in touch with family and friends. Examples include tablets, laptops, headphones and Wi-Fi routers; canes, walkers, wheelchairs, shower chairs and adaptive kitchen tools; and smart-home items like video doorbells, keyless locks and voice assistants. There are no income or asset limits, but there must be a physical, functional, cognitive, or psychological need that keeps you from doing a task at home or in the community, or that leaves you socially isolated. Devices and usage instructions are provided at no cost. You cannot refer yourself: a referral must come from an Area Agency on Aging, an AAA-funded provider, an Adult Day Service, Adult Protective Services, a Care Coordination Unit, or a Home Care Ombudsman. The program does not cover hearing aids, prescription items, installed grab bars or shower seats, or electric scooters and wheelchairs. Contact IATP at 217-522-7985 with questions about a referral.

The Illinois Volunteer Money Management Program matches a trained, bonded volunteer with an older adult who has trouble keeping up with household finances. Volunteers help organize and pay bills, set up a budget, balance a checkbook, deal with creditors, and can serve as a Social Security representative payee. It is a protective service for low-income older adults who are Community Care Program (CCP) participants or who have a substantiated Adult Protective Services case, offered in about 60 counties (and several Cook County townships). Contact the local Care Coordination Unit or call the Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966.

Arizona's aging network provides non-Medicaid in-home and community support for residents age 60 and older — personal care, homemaker help, home-delivered and congregate meals, case management, assisted transportation, and caregiver support — so older adults can stay in their own home. Area Agency on Aging case managers determine eligibility. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging.

Estimated service value: about $0 a year

This is a refundable Arizona income-tax credit (up to $502) for low-income residents who are 65 or older, or who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI). It helps with property tax OR rent paid on your main Arizona home — so renters can claim it too. You must have lived in Arizona all year and have very low household income (as defined for this credit). File Form 140PTC by April 15.

Estimated bill savings: $0–$502 a year

Arizona gives a property-tax exemption (reducing assessed value by $4,873 for 2026) to widows, widowers, and people with a total and permanent disability who own a home in Arizona. Household income from all sources must be $39,865 or less (or $47,826 with minor children or a disabled dependent), and the total assessed value of your Arizona property must be $36,454 or less. Apply to your county assessor between the first Monday in January and March 1.

Estimated bill savings: $100–$600 a year