Residential care, assisted living or memory care for a parent, with a monthly fee their pension does not fully cover. A private request lets the family share that shortfall, one month or a stretch of months, with the home's invoice attached.
Free to create and free to send.
Care fees come every month, and a pension or benefit may cover most of the fee but not all of it. The part left over is the number to ask about: the shortfall, not the whole fee, with the date the home needs it.
If anything about the payment schedule can change, the home's billing office is the place to ask. Whatever remains is what the request is for.
Linda's mother moved into residential care in August. The monthly fee is more than her pension covers, and the home needs the balance by the 1st each month for her to keep her place.
Linda's request asks for one month of the shortfall, with the home's invoice attached. It went to her two brothers, her mother's sister and three of her mother's oldest friends.
Some residents raise it themselves: "I moved into residential care in August, and the monthly fee is more than my pension covers." The same request works either way.
A request can cover a single month's shortfall or several months ahead. When several relatives each give toward it, the cost is shared rather than landing on one person.
With memory care, the resident may not be the one asking. The family raises it with her name on the request, and nothing about her health needs to appear in it.
Only people with the link can open it, and you decide who it is sent to, by text or email.
| What you keep | The entire amount of every contribution. |
| When it arrives | Once your bank is connected, each contribution reaches it in 2-3 business days. |
| How you send it | By text or email, to the people you choose, with photos and a video if you want them to see the situation rather than just read about it. You decide who to send it to. It's never listed on A Better Gift, and it stays out of search results unless you choose to share it publicly. |
| What the family adds | What it means |
|---|---|
| The home's monthly invoice, with the fee and what her pension already covers | Everyone sees the shortfall itself, not only the full fee. |
| Her story in your words, and a video from a visit if you like | People hear about her, and not just about the bill. |
| A link sent to siblings, cousins and old friends by text or email | Each of them gives by card as a guest, with no account, and is emailed a receipt. |
| Your bank details, once Stripe has confirmed who you are | The money is paid into your account. Once your bank is connected, each contribution reaches it in 2-3 business days, with no total to reach first, and relatives can still contribute after the goal is met. |
| A video update after your next visit | It is emailed to the relatives who contributed and to anyone you invited by email. |
| A goal for a month or more of her care | Requests start at $500: one month's shortfall or several, shared across the family. |
Whoever creates the request receives the payout. So the family member who pays the home is the right person to create it, with the resident's name on the request so everyone knows whose care it covers.
Nothing to create a request. Nothing to send it. And nothing comes out of what people give you: you receive the entire amount.
