About this site

Why it exists

When rent is due, the power is getting cut, or the fridge is empty, the internet gets cruel: old pages for programs that ended, forms that assume you have a printer, and twelve tabs when you needed one phone number.

KC Help Now is the page I wished existed: what to do tonight, in plain words, for both sides of the state line.

Who makes it

One person in Kansas City — not an agency, not a company, not a nonprofit asking for your email. I build it with help from AI tools for drafting and research, and then I check the facts against official sources myself. Nothing goes on this site without human eyes on it.

How the checking works

1. Every resource carries a date stamp showing when it was last checked. A stale number is treated as a bug.
2. Phone verification is in progress: I'm calling every number on the site and asking the programs directly. Stamps upgrade to "Verified by phone" as I go.
3. Seasonal programs flip themselves. Banners for things like Missouri's summer cooling help or Kansas LIEAP are date-gated, so the site can't claim a closed program is open.
4. Dead programs get named. If a program you found on Google is out of money or ended, we say so — showing up to a dead program is worse than knowing.

What we do and don't collect

No ads. No accounts. No cookies. No tracking scripts. No donation pop-ups. We don't profile you, and we have nothing to sell.

Two things happen in the background, in plain words. First, to keep the site online and safe from attacks, our web host records basic technical data for every request — including IP addresses — the same way nearly every website does. Second, we count how many times each page was visited — a single number per page. Knowing whether 8 people or 800 needed the utilities page helps us decide what to build next. We don't use any of this to identify you, build a profile, or sell anything — no names, no accounts, no cross-site tracking. Full details are in our disclaimer & terms.

The Exit Site button is honest too: it opens a weather page and replaces this one, but it does not erase your browsing history — if someone monitors your device, use a library computer or a friend's phone.

How you can help

• Wrong number? Program out of money? Tell us — fixes usually ship the same day.
• Want to see the maintenance state? The public data-health page shows freshness stamps and phone verification counts.
• Work at a KC community org? We're building translations of these pages with native-speaker review, starting with Spanish. If your organization can review a translation — or wants printed one-pagers for your corkboard — email us.
• Know someone having a hard month? Send them here. That's the whole point.
• Have a corkboard, counter, or waiting room? Print-ready one-pagers, QR-coded, free to copy: housing · utilities · food · medical bills