I an overwhelmed by the response to yesterday’s call for help in getting Kelly Patrick, a Certified Nurse’s Aide at the Mansion.

I haven’t been able to tally all of the contributions, so many were $5, $10 and $20. A lot were more – $100, $200 even a $500 donation, and the mail donations aren’t here yet.

It’s a guess, but I believe we are just a few dollars short of the $1,600 we need for Kelly to rent her double wide trailer.  I am certain the rest is on the way. I can’t wait to tell  her that her nightmare is over. She and her family will have a roof over their heads, and a warm place in the winter.

Kelly, I suspect you are reading this, congratulations.

Thanks for asking for help.  Help helps.

A number of people have asked whether they can help Kelly’s expenses to move into the trailer, or buy household items for her new home. If there is extra money, it will go to that purpose. One woman is sending a $300 Visa gift card.

I know Kelly needs money for groceries and other household items – linens, towels, kitchen appliances, microwave, air conditioning. I’ll make sure she gets the money meant for her, and any money she gets will be used well.

Many people have asked me to wait for their checks and donations, and I will. They want to contribute. This story struck quite a nerve. I think we all know somebody trapped in this kind of net.

I know Kelly will be grateful for any additional help, and can use it.

This is touching for me to see.

The Army of Good is not a wealthy army, but they have the biggest hearts.The contributions have come in from all over the country, just about every state except Hawaii.

As always, I will be photographing Kelly’s new home, as soon as she signs the lease and moves in.

I think we will have enough, for sure, and maybe some overage. If there is any money beyond what Kelly needs, it will go straight into the Gus Fund, which supports the Mansion and refugee work. But I think Kelly can use what comes.

You can follow Kelly’s story, detailed yesterday here.

I want to say that the Mansion is a good place to work and for the aged residents to live. They care. Red and I have been in many that don’t care. These contributions are a testament to the connection so many of you feel for the Mansion.

Medicaid elderly care facilities do not have much money, unlike private assisted care facilities, and their government payments and subsidies are being slashed all of the time. Wealthy people do not go there.

In America, we want to keep the elderly alive as long as possible so insurance companies and pharmaceuticals can make money off of them, but we don’t want to pay much for their sustenance and care, or give the people who work there the pay they deserve.

The great cliche – the rich are getting richer, the poor poorer – is very true in our country.

It is always a struggle for places like the Mansion, the Army Of Good has made so many things possible there that would otherwise be impossible.

I have been to a lot of assisted care facilities, and the Mansion has the most loving and supportive care I have seen. That does not mean the staff makes a lot of money, there just isn’t a lot of money to spread around. And this doesn’t mean these paid caregivers should not be paid more.

It is a scandal when certified nursing aides who do so much difficult work make less than cashiers at fast food restaurants.

I am fond of Kelly and am excited to help her, but to me, this is a much larger story than Kelly and her tent.

This is the story of many millions of people  whose wages have not grown in the new  and booming economy, even as the cost of almost everything in our lives is rising.

Kelly has always worked hard, always had a job, she got into some trouble for personal reasons – she has been caring for her daughter and grandson for seven years – and her bills sometimes outrun her income.

There is simply no net for many American workers who run into the bumps and struggles of life. Once your foot gets into the quicksand, it is harder and harder to get out.

Kelly, like many other professional caregivers, is taking care of our mothers, many of whom have been largely abandoned by their families and society at large. She makes a huge difference to them, and there is no way she should be living in a tent with her grandson or daughter.

So thanks so much. I think we’ve done it, or will do it shortly. I’m not sure I ever had a faster or more generous response to a request for help.

Any additional money will be put to good use, and if you wish to donate to Kelly and  her struggle to get out of her tent, or to my Mansion work, you can send a contribution to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, Post Office Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].

Please mark the donations “Kelly” if that’s where you wish the money to go.