HelpByState for Claude and other AI assistants
Ask your AI assistant where to find free food, rent help, a clinic or a shelter near you, and it answers from the same checked, dated listings as this site.
Connect it
In Claude, open Connectors, choose to add a custom connector, and paste this address. No account, key or payment is needed.
https://helpbystate.com/api/mcp/
Ask it things like
- Where can I get free food in Athens, Texas this week?
- I need help paying my electric bill in Henderson County, Texas.
- Find veterans services near Gun Barrel City, TX.
- Is there a free clinic in Henderson County, Texas?
What it answers with
Names, phone numbers, hours and addresses, the date each listing was checked, and any call first warning, with a link to the full page here. It covers one county at a time, the same as this site. For a place that is not covered yet it says so and points to 2-1-1.
Where it works right now
- Henderson County, Texas: Athens, Brownsboro, Chandler, Gun Barrel City, Malakoff, Mabank, Murchison, Tool, Trinidad
- Smith County, Texas: Tyler, Arp, Bullard, Flint, Lindale, Troup, Whitehouse
- Gregg County, Texas: Longview, Gladewater, Kilgore
- Van Zandt County, Texas: Canton, Edgewood, Fruitvale, Grand Saline, Van, Wills Point
- Rusk County, Texas: Henderson, Mount Enterprise, New London, Overton, Tatum
- Upshur County, Texas: Gilmer, Big Sandy, Diana, Gladewater, Ore City
- Wood County, Texas: Quitman, Alba, Hawkins, Mineola, Winnsboro
- Cherokee County, Texas: Rusk, Alto, Jacksonville, Wells
- Anderson County, Texas: Palestine, Elkhart, Frankston
- Kaufman County, Texas: Kaufman, Crandall, Kemp, Terrell
- Rains County, Texas: Emory, Point
- Harrison County, Texas: Marshall, Harleton, Karnack, Waskom
- Panola County, Texas: Carthage, Beckville
- Camp County, Texas: Pittsburg
- Hopkins County, Texas: Sulphur Springs, Como, Cumby, Pickton
What it keeps
It never asks who you are. We count questions only as daily totals of the kind of help and the county, so we know where to add help next. Questions about safety, shelter, addiction or mental health are never counted at all. Its answers carry no ads. See our privacy page.
For developers
It is a Model Context Protocol server (streamable HTTP, JSON-RPC over POST, no sign-in) with one read-only tool, find_free_help: state, town or county, and the kind of help in plain words.