Patches of Light

What you get

Help with current rent or mortgage obligations associated with treatment hardship, current utility and other business-associated bills related to treatment hardship, gas gift cards, and grocery or food gift cards.

How to start

Your hospital social worker submits the packet and handles all questions; you cannot apply or contact the program yourself.

Good to know

• Prepare current bills, housing proof, and bank-balance records when requested; incomplete applications are not sent back for corrections.
• Explain why a parent or guardian is not working and how the illness affects your finances.

What help you may get

Check the main eligibility rules

• A provider must verify the patient or diagnosis.
• A current medical professional must sign the application and include a letter explaining diagnosis, treatment, family situation, and the assistance requested.
• The request must come from the child's current hospital social worker; family, guardian, and other direct submissions are not considered.

Financial need is required.

• The application asks about employment, unpaid leave, source of income, household size, and the illness's financial impact but publishes no numerical income ceiling.
• For an ongoing monthly obligation, the application asks how the bill will be managed the following month.
• The family must explain why a parent or guardian is not working and how the illness affects finances.
• Utility requests ask the family to list eligibility for or participation in utility-assistance programs.

Where you live and where your child is treated

How to get started

Set up the ask for my social worker

Does a social worker or care team need to start it? Yes. Ask your child’s social worker or care team to begin the request.

Who can start: Social Worker

1. All status and outcome communication remains between Patches of Light and the submitting medical professional.
2. Attach only the required current bill pages, lease or mortgage proof, merchant information, and bank-balance verification when applicable.
3. The social worker completes the current 2026 packet with the family, signs the medical-team agreement, checks every criterion, and writes the required explanatory letter.
4. The social worker submits the complete packet by the official email or fax and may email to confirm receipt.
5. Wait until the announced intake pause ends, then ask the child's current hospital social worker to confirm that Patches of Light is accepting new requests.

Documents to prepare

• Bank-balance verification under $2,000 for a request over $350
• Complete current 2026 application, medical-team agreement, cover letter, and criterion checklist
• Confirmation that the creditor accepts a partial payment when applicable
• Current billing statement or current creditor letter for requests other than food, groceries, or gas
• Current lease, rent, mortgage, utility, loan, or other bill with legible account, address, and balance information when applicable
• Medical-professional letter describing the diagnosis, treatment, family situation, and assistance requested

• Approved business-associated bills are paid directly to the creditor after verification.
• Gas and grocery assistance may be issued as electronic or mailed merchant gift cards through the medical professional.
• The submitting medical professional must confirm receipt within the program's stated deadline.

Availability and timing

• The current application states that funding is limited and an eligible application does not guarantee assistance.
• The official homepage says Patches of Light will pause accepting new assistance applications until November 1, 2026 because of a significant increase in requests.
• The organization says it is still operating and fulfilling already approved applications.
• New applications are temporarily paused until November 1, 2026.
• The organization states that applications take two to three weeks to be considered after submission.
• A complete application is generally considered within two to three weeks; this is not an approval promise.

Limitations and things to confirm

• A current hospital social worker must submit the request; direct family contact about an application can disqualify the request.
• Assistance is funding-dependent, and the temporary $350 treatment of rent, mortgage, and utility requests has an unclear end date in the revised 2026 packet.
• Every field and required attachment must be complete, current, legible, and accurate; the organization says it will not request corrections.
• New applications are not accepted until November 1, 2026 under the current official notice.
• The application collects sensitive medical, employment, household, contact, insurance, financial-impact, and sometimes bank-balance information. Families should transmit it only through their hospital social worker using the official email or fax and include only the pertinent bill or bank pages requested.

• Are United States territories eligible under the national service statement?
• How does the organization safeguard and retain the sensitive application data sent by email or fax?
• Through what date does the revised 2026 packet's temporary $350 treatment of rent, mortgage, and utility requests apply?
• What total and repeat-assistance limits apply to each covered expense?
• Will intake reopen as announced on November 1, 2026, and what funding status will apply then?

Official sources

Program details were last verified Aug 24, 2026. Availability can change, so check the official program before applying.

• Patches Application Year 2026 and Application for Assistance · checked Aug 24, 2026
• Assistance — Patches of Light · checked Aug 24, 2026
• Patches of Light · checked Aug 24, 2026