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Get help quickly. 

Power outages, natural disasters, or unforeseen expenses can impact our access to food. If your food has been damaged or you need access to food quickly, you may be eligible for expedited benefits or to have benefit money restored. 


There are a number of community organizations and service providers who are here to help. 

Call 1-800-479-6151 to speak with a 3SquaresVT benefits specialist, which is free and confidential. The following organizations can help you access Expedited or Replacement benefits.

  • Call 2-1-1 to get connected to your local Community Action Agency

  • If you are over 60, you can contact your local Agency on Aging or call the HelpLine at 1-800-642-5119

  • Text ‘VFBCHAT’ to 61222 or call 855-855-6181 to text with a Vermont Foodbank 3SquaresVT specialist

  • For relay services, dial 7-1-1 

  • For interpretation services, dial 1-855-247-3092

Looking for help applying for 3SquaresVT? Click here to learn more! You can also contact any of the organizations listed above for more information on how to apply for 3SquaresVT.


Expedited Benefits +

If you or your family have no money for food and need to enroll in 3SquaresVT immediately, complete question 5 of the application to apply for expedited benefits. People in Vermont may be able to get 3SquaresVT benefits within 7 days if:

  • Your income is less than $150 per month and you have less than $100 on hand or in the bank right now;
  • OR you are a migrant or seasonal farm worker and have little or no income right now;
  • OR your monthly rent or mortgage plus utilities cost more than your monthly income plus any cash you have on hand or in the bank.

To apply for expedited 3SquaresVT benefits, you need to fill out the 3SquaresVT application and send it to the address listed.

  • If you do not have time to fill out the whole application right now, you can just fill out pages one and two of the application. Page one asks for your name, address, and signature. Page 2 asks about your emergency needs. You can tear off these pages and mail them.
  • If you use this shortcut, you will have to fill out the rest of the application when you have an interview with the worker from the 3SquaresVT office.

Replacement Benefits +

If your food was damaged from a power outage or natural disaster, you may be eligible to have benefit money restored. You can receive replacement benefits if you lost food because of:

  • flood, other natural disaster
  • fire
  • loss of electricity (4 hours or more), or
  • failure of equipment such as a refrigerator or freezer.

You must report the loss of food within 10 days of the incident. You can report the loss in a few different ways:

  • Call the Benefits Service Center at 1-800-479-6151 (7-1-1 for relay services, 1-855-247-3092 for interpretation services).
  • Visit or mail-in a report to your local district office.
  • Upload a completed copy/scan/picture of page 1 of Form 271 to the Document Uploader

More information about page 1 of Form 271:

  • While not required initially, completing page 1 of Form 271 when reporting the loss may help speed up the review process.

  • Submitting a complete and signed page 1 of Form 271 within ten days after reporting the loss is necessary. If the tenth day falls on a weekend or holiday, submit the form on the next workday.

  • You can upload a complete and signed Form 271 to the Document Uploader, mail it in, or drop it off at a local district office.

When completing Form 271, ESD needs to know the exact dollar amount you are requesting for replacement. The description section must be filled in.

  • Example of description: "My food was destroyed when my house was flooded in Barre VT on 7/10/24." or "I lost power all night during the rainstorm in Plainfield VT on 7/10/24 and the food in my refrigerator spoiled"*