What country are you in? That might help people be more specific with suggestions.

I am assuming by the word "trash" (rather than rubbish) that you are in US?

Thanks so much. It feels good to vent!

That's correct.

Apologies da Bee ... I wrongly thought you were in the UK .... maybe there are voluntary sector helping agencies in the US ... or an organisation that could help you identify any other welfare benefits that you might be entitled to that could help you pay for a helper/befriender?

I do wish you luck and meanwhile Buzz is open for friendly chat and posting 27 - 7 - 365

Thanks. No assistance that I qualify for unfortunately.

I have seen this sort of thread on other chat sites, and it seems that the British are better at looking after people than America. We have charities which provide support for older people. Yes, they rely on donations from the public but they obviously have enough to continue their work.
I wonder why someone in America doesn't start something similar? Churches are often a great source of community support. The minister and his wife often visit their isolated parishioners and organise social functions.
Is there nothing in your area, da Bee?

I'm actually from the U.S.

Yes, my family knows exactly how I feel; they get defensive when I ask for help (we have so much going on...if it was an emergency you know we would be there...)

Sometimes it is just not the right option for children to have their elderly parents to live with them.
My mother who suffered from anxiety and depression wanted to move in with me and my family because she needed constant company. She often knocked on her neighbours at the crack of dawn because she was lonely. She lived 25 miles away from us. She didn’t like the town where we lived so we visited her every weekend.
I had just taken up my career after raising my children, my family was beginning to benefit from my income. I needed to work so she would have been on her own for several hours in the day in a strange place with no friendly faces. Her mental health care worker advised me against having her move in with us and in the end my husband put his foot down and said NO. He was worried about my health.
We got her all the help we could from various agencies, visited regularly, and in the end she went into residential care where she was extremely happy.

Now we are getting on in years but we don’t expect our family to look after us. They have their own very busy lives.

I'm slowly learning through my chats with a Buzz friend that I've been attempting to get my family to see things through my eyes. They are all younger than me. It's been nice to speak with someone more my age.

Per topic question "My support is about 50 yds east of me next door watching tv waiting on a friend to come for a visit."