It is sometimes difficult to find out what the Mansion residents need, the residents almost never ask me for anything, and the staff is shy about asking me for too much. This afternoon, it was quiet, and I asked a number of people I have come to know and trust (and whose trust I think I have earned) what is needed, and I learned that there are some immediate needs to address.

I will take care of some of them – I have about $150 left over from the picnic table fund that was so successful, and some I am asking for some help for. Please do not feel any pressure to help, but if you can, it will be welcome.

The Mansion is a Medicaid facility, it is not like those $10,000 to $15000 a month residences. The government pays a fraction of that.

The residents generally come to the Mansion with their resources depleted, and quite often with the resources of their family depleted as well.

We are not a generous country when it comes to the elderly, except for the outrageously high prices charged them for medicines and drugs and health care. In our country, we keep people alive beyond all reason by any means and then punish them for needing so much help.

They come to the Mansion when their life savings are gone, and they are totally dependent on Medicaid for the roof over their heads and the care that they receive. The staff is dedicated and heroic, but also stretched thin and paid little. That is the nature of Medicaid facilities.

The Mansion cannot provide its residents with personal effects like toiletries, soap, body wash or shampoo, and when their accounts run dry, which happens frequently, they sometimes run short of these things. We live in a country that begrudges the elderly poor – all of them have worked all of their lives, but growing old is expensive in America, even for the rich, and these people are not rich – basic necessities like soap.

Midway through the month, some of the residents run out of things that help them stay healthy and clean and feel good about themselves. The staff members often spend their own money to assist them, but they don’t make a lot of money.

Congress can’t seem to try to cut enough from the Medicaid budget. I shudder to think of it.

Maria and I went to the pharmacy and we bought several large bags of soap, moisturizer shampoo and body wash and brought it over to the Mansion.

If anyone is so inclined, it would be helpful to send some more soap, body wash and moisturizer shampoo, the things we brought should last a couple of weeks. You can send these things to The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

Barb and several other residents have run through the hundreds of books in the Mansion library, they are voracious readers. Barb and her friends like to read romance novels, and if any of you have used romance novels sitting on your shelves, they would be welcome here.

Jane is in need of some watercolor kits and coloring books, she is drawn to painting, and has no confidence about it. We are working on that. I went and bought three coloring books at Battenkill Books and will bring them to Jane tomorrow. If any of you have simple watercolor kits to send to the Mansion (11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816), that would be appreciated.

At the Mansion today, I was told of two residents who need clothes, their families cannot help them and they have no money and few things to wear. Their clothes have been worn through, some from accidents.

Tomorrow, I am bringing a check to one of the staffers, who has volunteered to go out and buy some clothes at a nearby thrift store for these residents. I am giving her $70, this is from money donated to me for general use for the Mansion residents. I have several hundred dollars left in that fund.

It is risky to buy clothes for people you can’t see and I am not at ease identifying them.

So I will take care of providing  for these clothes out of the money donated to me. I don’t think it makes sense for people to send clothes from the outside, these clothes are only needed by one or two people, and I can handle it.

If I need more help,  I will ask. And if you wish to donate to me to support this work and dispense aid when I can, you can send a donation to P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. You can also contribute via Paypal, Friends and Family, my ID is [email protected]. If you choose to donate funds, please mark them for the Mansion, I keep that money separate from mine. The donation button at the bottom of this post is for my blog, not the Mansion.

Connie is getting ready to start knitting again, your letters have been profoundly healing and uplifting. She has enough yarn (more than enough) but very much enjoys your letters (The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. ) She read several of them to me this afternoon.

She has suggesting working with Maria to produce a quilt together, and Maria is much excited about it. More on that later.

This was an important time for me and for Maria at the Mansion. Our eyes were opened further to the need of the residents. It is important for me to listen and better understand some of their unseen and invisible needs. I appreciate their trust in talking to me.

The soap, shampoo and body wash is a good example. I don’t seem them shower and bathe, so that is not something I would know. I have learned to ask the right questions of the right people, and I appreciate your support in this, and understand those who can’t or don’t wish to help in this way.

As always, some of the most meaningful and effective support is free, and your letters are important, uplifting and transformative for them. Thanks for listening, and for being there. Our joint undertakings for good are among the most meaningful and satisfying of my life.

We are keeping one another grounded and hopeful. We are helping the vulnerable. We are going good.