The Pine County’s Financial Assistance Team is responsible for administering numerous financial assistance programs that are funded by Federal, State, and County dollars. Eligibility Workers are trained to determine eligibility for financial assistance programs depending upon income and/or assets guidelines according to the Federal, State, and County statue and policies.
Please choose from the following topics or sub-section topics on the left hand side for more information about all the programs you may wish to apply or learn more about those programs. If you have any questions about our programs or need assistance with your paperwork, please contact our agency for us to better assist you.
All our Financial Assistance Team are working in the office or are teleworking. We have Support Staff in the office. All the Eligibility Workers are teleworkers. They will be working remotely and available, but will not be returning to the office during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligibility Workers are available by phone for appointments, for questions, to report changes, etc. If you leave a voicemail for your worker, they will contact you within 48 hours. We highly encourage the public to email Eligibility Workers, as they correspond via email for reporting changes, turning in proofs, contacting our office, etc. Our Financial Assistance Team members phone numbers and email addresses are located on the left side panel.
COVID19 Updates:
We have several ways for you to apply, turn in paperwork, or to contact someone within our agency.
Here are the following ways your Pine County Financial Assistance unit can serve you:
1. To apply for Medical Assistance (MA) through MNSure, please click here .
**Please email MNSure@co.pine.mn.us or call us once you submit your application for us to make sure it went through correctly and there are no issues.
2. To apply for Cash, SNAP (Food Stamps), Child Care, Emergency programs please click here.
3. To apply for county burial for a friend or family member who has passed away and has no means to pay for final expenses related to burial or cremation please click here.
Please be sure to check out the programs as detailed information is provided about each one of these on the left hand side of the page.
How can you return paperwork or contact our agency? We have several ways:
1. You can email your paperwork, questions, or contact your worker. This is the preferred method to contact our agency as all Eligibility Workers are teleworkers and working remotely.
If you wish to email your proofs or contact anyone in the Income Maintenance Team, please send an
email address to: INCOME.PROOF@CO.PINE.MN.US
** Please note, any email responses from our team will be encrypted to safeguard your private data. Our county policy is located on the right side of this page with more detailed information, including a one time password being required to open email.
2. To return paperwork to our Sandstone or Pine City offices: There is a secure drop box outside our main doors. This drop box is being checked several times throughout the day.
3. You can mail in your paperwork to either office. Our addresses is on all paperwork we send out or it is also located on the side of this page.
4. You can fax your paperwork to either office. Our fax numbers are listed on the side of this page.
5. We also have paper applications at each office location by the secure drop boxes or in our lobby for people to complete and leave in the secure drop boxes, which are again checked several times a day.
6. You can contact your worker by calling the office and leaving a voicemail for them. They will attempt to call you back within 48 hours. For a staff directory, please see the tab listed on the left hand side of this page. Again, feel free to send an email to your worker at the email address listed above.
Important: Do not delay. The day we receive the first page of the Combined Application Form with at least your name, address, and signature is the first day that you may be eligible for SNAP. This sets the date of application. You will still need to complete the rest of the application.
We want to serve you the best way we can and also keep everyone safe during these uncertain times. We do have Support Staff and Eligibility Workers who are available to answer your questions during normal business hours. Please call our offices if you have any questions or concerns.
Lakes and Pines: SNAP applications:
Lakes and Pines can assist Pine County residents with their SNAP applications every Wednesday, by appointment only, from 1pm - 4pm. Please contact Lakes and Pines for a basic intake and to schedule your appointment.
Lakes and Pines is part of the SNAP Outreach staff that are helping the public complete applications and taking verbal signatures to set the date of the SNAP application during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency.
Contact the Community Services Department at 320-679-1800 or 800-832-6082 Option 4 or snap@lakesandpines.org .
Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT):
There is P-EBT information, resources, and links available and located under our Resource Page > COVID-19 related on the left panel of this website. P-EBT is a temporary food benefit available to Minnesota families with children who would have received free or reduced-price meals if schools were open. Please check out our resource page and/or check with your child(ren)'s school for additional information.
Toys for Tots applications are available and located at our Pine County Health & Human Services offices and WIC office locations in Sandstone and Pine City. They are also available in at our local food shelves in Sandstone and Pine City and at the Lakes and Pines office in Mora. There are no on-line, phone, or mail in applications. For more information, please go to the Pine County Toys for Toys website here .
