My name is Peaches Gillette. For over forty years I have been a writer, a teacher, an ordained chaplain, and a Pastoral Care Counselor — serving those in nursing homes, preaching monthly at a local church here in Ithaca, and volunteering to do prison chaplaincy. I try in whatever way I can, to hold out a hand of tenderness and peace to the world.

My spiritual calling has not changed, but my circumstances have.

I have been on dialysis for years, and recently I received a diagnosis of returning cancer. I now live with two chronic illnesses, neither of which has a cure, both create chronic physical effects that result in multiple visits to urgent care and the emergency room.  And alongside the weight of that, I carry a growing burden of medical debt that I cannot outrun.  There is the borrowing from Peter to pay Paul effect in which every attempt to address this debt seems only to open the door to debt in other areas of my financial life..

My income is Social Security Disability and the modest earnings from my part-time ministry work. It is not enough. And so, for the first time, I am asking for help for this personal situation..

I know I am not alone in this. This crisis is the crisis of many who struggle to financially sustain their lives in the face of increasing prices, merciless insurance companies and medical professionals imprisoned by insurance regulations that see the sick and dying as numbers on endless piles of paper.

I worry about all of us, particularly those who are forced to focus on their dwindling resources rather than their health; the impossible math of surviving illness in this country. My heart goes out to every one of them. It goes out to you, whoever you are reading this.

We only have each other.

Any contribution you are able to make will mean more than I can say. And I mean this sincerely: I hope that one day, when I am able, I can find a way to return the kindness.

With gratitude and blessing,

Rev. Peaches Gillette