Philips Help Center
426 Big Horn St.Thermopolis, WY 82443
Wednesday–Thursday, 12:00–3:00 p.m. · Walk-in
(307) 864-3322
helpcenterthermopolis@gmail.com Visit Philips Help Center on Facebook →
Yellowstone Country Assistance Network
Rooted here. Growing possibility.
Housing & Utility Stability
Housing Stability · Hot Springs County, Wyoming
Keeping a home, and the lights on.
When a household is already stretched thin, past-due rent or a utility shutoff can put housing at risk.
Across Hot Springs County, Yellowstone Country Assistance Network's help focuses on two needs: past-due rent when housing is at risk, and past-due utilities when service is about to be shut off.
Towns and communities in Hot Springs County
- Thermopolis
- East Thermopolis
- Kirby
- Lucerne
- Owl Creek
- Hamilton Dome
- Grass Creek
- Embar
This page is for Hot Springs County, Wyoming. Other counties are often served by a different community action agency, and each one is shaped around what its own community needs, so help looks different from one county to the next. It isn't a fund that opens the same way everywhere each fall. If you live somewhere else, Wyoming 2-1-1 is the best place to start. They can tell you what help is available where you live: dial 2-1-1 or call (888) 425-7138.
Last Year in Hot Springs County
Small help, real results.
- 31People reached a resultAcross the households helped
- 7Households avoided evictionRent help arrived in time
- 3Households moved into safe, affordable housingA steadier place to live
- $13,364Paid to landlords and utilitiesNever as cash to households
October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
Where to Start
Start with Philips Help Center.
We don't have an office in Hot Springs County, and there's nothing to apply for with us directly. Help reaches people through Philips Help Center in Thermopolis, an outreach program of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.
Philips Help Center is a local place to ask for help and talk through what's happening. They know the help that already exists here and look there first. When their own resources can't meet a need, and we might be able to, they can send a referral. It's one tool in their toolbox.
You don't need to know which program you need before you ask for help. Start with someone local.
Thermopolis, WY 82443
Wednesday–Thursday, 12:00–3:00 p.m. · Walk-in
(307) 864-3322
helpcenterthermopolis@gmail.com Visit Philips Help Center on Facebook →
What the Program Covers
Two kinds of help this year.
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HousingPast-due rent
Limited help for eligible households with past-due rent, when it can help prevent the loss of housing.
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UtilitiesPast-due utilities
Limited help for eligible households with a past-due utility balance, when essential service is at risk of shutoff.
Help fits the household. Rent help can cover more than one month that is past due, so a larger family with higher rent can still be helped. Help stays within the limits our board sets, and depends on eligibility and available funds.
Who May Qualify
Eligibility
Households must:
- Live in Hot Springs County, Wyoming
- Meet the program's income guidelines, with documents to show it
- Have a documented past-due rent or utility balance, in the name of someone in the household
- Be referred by Philips Help Center
Our Board of Directors sets limits on how much help a household can receive and how often. Questions about getting help again
A referral doesn't guarantee help. We decide eligibility, and help is available only while Hot Springs County funds remain.
After a Referral
Local relationship. Independent review.
- Philips Help Center works with the household and sends the referral.
- We review the documents, decide eligibility, and look at what is actually needed.
- If approved, payment goes directly to the landlord or utility, never as cash to the household.
- Philips Help Center stays the local connection. The household isn't handed off to another office.
Questions People Ask
Getting help again.
Help is meant to get a household through a hard stretch, so it looks a little different the second time.
We got help last year. Can we get help again?
Help is available once in any 12 months, counted from the last payment. A household helped 12 to 24 months ago can get a smaller amount, and the referral needs to show what has changed and why the help will work this time. Philips Help Center can talk through what fits.
Is there a set amount?
No. The board's limit is the most we can pay, not an amount a household is owed. We look at what it will take, after other help, to bring the account current, and whether that will really keep the household housed. We pay that amount directly to the landlord or utility.
Does other help come first?
Yes. For a utility bill, the household applies for heating assistance and Energy Share first, and Philips Help Center takes Energy Share applications. Even a small amount from another program counts. We cover the piece those programs can't: first, last, or in between. Never instead.
Can you pay next month's rent?
No. Help is for a bill that is already past due, not for months ahead.
Does it start over each October?
No. The 12 months are counted from the last payment, not the calendar. Each request starts with a new referral, and help in Hot Springs County ends for the year once the county's funds are used.
How long does it take?
Up to 14 business days once a referral is complete. This isn't emergency help, so Philips Help Center can say what else may help in the meantime.
Where the Money Goes
Hot Springs County's share, and why it is spent this way.
Hot Springs County's share of federal Community Action funding for 2027 is $29,204. About a third of it goes straight to past-due rent and utilities. Here is all of it.
- $10,00034%Direct help
Past-due rent and utilities, paid to the landlord or utility.
- $19,20466%Running the grant
What it takes to run a federal grant well. Most of these costs are shared across our three counties.
Left for direct help this year: $8,300 of $10,000 (as of November 2026)
First come, first served, while it lasts. Complete referrals are reviewed in the order they arrive, and direct help stops for the year once it is used.
The work is the same at any size.
Deciding eligibility, paying every bill correctly, reporting each month, state reviews, audits, and the board all have to happen whether five households are helped or fifty. One person does that work for all three counties.
Meeting the standards isn't free.
Every community action agency has to meet national standards: an active board, a needs assessment, a strategic plan, sound finances, and listening to the people it serves. In 2026, we met 95% of them.
Nothing is spent on a second office.
Philips Help Center is already the local place people go. Working through them, instead of opening our own office here, keeps more of the county's share for the help itself.
Why rent and utilities?
When we asked, Hot Springs County named stable, affordable housing as its top need. A past-due bill is often the small gap that turns into losing a home.
Philips Help Center and other local organizations already do a lot here, so we focus on the gaps they can't cover instead of repeating what already works.
The goal for 2027: 15 people stay in their homes, and 5 keep their utilities on.
Keeping a family housed, and the heat on, protects everything that depends on it: school, work, and health.
Every dollar is reported to the Wyoming Department of Health each month, and our board reviews the budget at every meeting.
How Help Fits
First, last, or in between. Never instead.
Most help in Hot Springs County comes from other programs, and it should. We fit in around them.
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First
The household has applied for heating assistance, but it takes time to process, and a utility may want to see a payment before then. A smaller payment can keep the service on while the bigger help works its way through.
-
In between
Philips Help Center pieces together what it can from other help, like Energy Share or the Salvation Army. We can cover the part that's still missing, so the whole bill is paid.
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Last
When other help has paid what it can and a family still owes on rent, we can pay what's left, so they stay in their home.
Never instead.We don't take the place of a program a household can use. Even a small amount from other help counts first.
Why Work Through Someone Local?
A small grant shouldn't create another system to navigate.
Hot Springs County already has local organizations, churches, health care providers, schools, public programs, and neighbors doing important work. Our role isn't to become all of those things. It's to ask:
- What already exists?
- Where is the gap?
- Where can these resources make a real difference?
The goal isn't another door to knock on. It's a clearer path through the doors already here.
What Hot Springs County told us
The same five needs, housing, transportation, wages, childcare, and behavioral health, have come up in every assessment since 2019. Our 2026 Community Needs Assessment, accepted by the board on August 4, 2026, named these top needs for households:
Stable, affordable housing
The county is short an estimated 150–200 affordable units, and rents exceed what local wages support.
Reliable transportation
More than 2,000 square miles and no public transit make it hard to reach work, health care, and services.
Childcare that fits working hours
No evening or weekend slots, and waitlists for infants and toddlers.
One path through many programs
The key finding: households must contact separate agencies and repeat the same paperwork to get help they already qualify for.
"Finding housing that is affordable and livable is nearly impossible."
Hot Springs County resident
"If you can't get there, the service might as well not exist."
Focus group participant
"People have to tell their story over and over again. Every program asks for the same documents."
Focus group participant
Our Mission
Help today. Learn for tomorrow.
Yellowstone Country Assistance Network works alongside communities to change the conditions that create poverty, strengthen local systems, and expand opportunities for future generations.
- Sometimes Community Action means preventing an eviction today.
- Sometimes it means keeping the utilities connected.
- And sometimes it means noticing the same problem keeps appearing, and asking what needs to change upstream.
We do both.
Your Experience Matters
What Hot Springs County customers told us.
In 2025, all 12 Hot Springs County households who received help saw our customer survey, and 10 completed it.
- 100%Helped on time
- 100%Treated with respect
- 100%Got what they needed
- 100%Felt welcomed
"I think you guys are doing a great job!"
Hot Springs County resident
Satisfaction measures the experience at the door, not whether the conditions changed.People tell us the help is respectful and timely, and that the need keeps coming back. Both are true.
In 2025, 21 people in Hot Springs County avoided eviction, against a target of 8. But the county's allocation reached about 12 of roughly 517 income-eligible households.
Help us make the path better.
If you received help through us in Hot Springs County, tell us what it was like:
- Was the process understandable?
- Did help arrive while it could still make a difference?
- Were you treated with dignity?
- Where did you get stuck?
Your answers don't affect eligibility or any help you receive. They help us and our board decide what to improve.
Need Other Help?
We are only one resource.
If your need isn't covered by this program, these are good places to start.
Local help · ThermopolisPhilips Help CenterLocal resources for utilities, rent, food, prescriptions, emergency fuel, and more.
(307) 864-3322 State programs · ThermopolisDepartment of Family ServicesFood, cash, child care, and energy assistance.
403 Big Horn, Thermopolis
(307) 864-2158 StatewideWyoming 2-1-1Find help anywhere in Wyoming.Dial 2-1-1 or call (888) 425-7138 EmergencyCall 911For any emergency, call 911.
(307) 864-3322 State programs · ThermopolisDepartment of Family ServicesFood, cash, child care, and energy assistance.
403 Big Horn, Thermopolis
(307) 864-2158 StatewideWyoming 2-1-1Find help anywhere in Wyoming.Dial 2-1-1 or call (888) 425-7138 EmergencyCall 911For any emergency, call 911.