Yes, your local council on aging is a call you should make, and a couple of questions you should ask are maybe, "Would you like me to call someone to help you clean up?" and "Have you considered moving to a retirement community?" I think she might possibly be a candidate for independent living, provided it comes with weekly housekeeping and meal preparation, though perhaps with her diabetes, light assisted living is appropriate.

There was someone whose journal I read a few months ago who had similar housekeeping issues of their own. I don't know if it was as bad as you describe, but it was bad to the point that the person wouldn't allow guests over and was only moved to take action because the landlord was planning to come over to inspect something. She ended up hiring a cleaning crew who were very thorough and very respectful and got her life back in order. I believe she made arrangements for them to come back in on a regular basis to keep things from getting out of control.

But seriously, the call to the council on aging is probably the most effective way to start the ball rolling, and you can go to sleep at night knowing that you've been the agent for real change in Miss B.'s life just by doing so. To take responsibility for this yourself would be pure madness and honestly, probably not that effective. This is a job for professionals. It would not even help if this were someone you love -- it is not a failure of love that makes this job too big to tackle. It is simply too big for one person to tackle. That's why there is a council on aging in the first place.

So make that call. That call is an act of pure generosity. That call is going to be the start of everything that needs to happen.