Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
To fulfill our mission, MESH runs several programs in three main areas. Our primary mission is providing high quality care to senior members in need. This includes in-home care as well as placement in the best residential facilities on an ongoing basis at no cost for qualified applicants. MESH also provides humanitarian relief for members who are experiencing short term hardship, in a variety of ways. Our third area of focus is to be an engaged member of our DC community, and to provide grants to worthy charitable organizations doing work in line with the mission of MESH. Please visit the Programs page to learn more!
Residential Care
Since our founding, MESH’s primary mission has been the care of our senior members. We fund or subsidize care at home or in qualified senior care facilities for members in need, to ensure the highest quality of life for our brothers and sisters. Funding may include up to all nursing care and medical expenses and, in some cases, a monthly stipend.
Qualified members in need may apply through their lodge or chapter’s MESH representative or contact us for information.
Other Assistance
We review applications from members for other assistance on a case by case basis. Examples of assistance we have provided include:
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Loans or grants to assist in payment for medical, rent, and utilities expenses;
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Assistance in payment of funeral and burial expenses for family member;
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Assistance in identification of and referral to federal and state government funding for healthcare and living expenses;
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Assistance in bank negotiation for restructured debt due to healthcare expenses.
Who is eligible for MESH Assistance?
Members of a constituent lodge of the Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia or constituent chapter of the Grand Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star of the District of Columbia for five years or more, and their spouses are eligible for assistance. Spouses of deceased members with five years of membership and in good standing at the time of death are included.
How to apply for Assistance
Applications for assistance are initiated, at the member's or spouse's request, by the member's lodge or chapter. For contact information for the secretary of your, or your spouse's, lodge or chapter, please contact the Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M., of the District of Columbia, or the Grand Chapter, O.E.S., of the District of Columbia, as appropriate.
Contributing to the DC Community
Washington, the District of Columbia, and the surrounding community is our home. It's where we live, work, and raise our families. In addition to helping members and families of the Masonic Family take care of themselves and each other, we endeavor to build a stronger, more nurturing community by making strategic contributions to mission-driven organizations who make DC and the surrounding neighborhoods a great place to call home.
Recent recipients of these contributions include:
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St. Baldrick's Foundation - conquering childhood cancers;
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The Lilabean Foundation - for pediatric brain cancer research;
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Casa Ruby: Fighting homelessness for at-risk youth;
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St. Mary's Court - feeding our community's vulnerable and handicapped elderly;
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DC SCORES - cultivating healthy, happy, and active children;
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La Clinica del Pueblo - providing healthcare to low-income and uninsured Latino immigrants in the metro DC area;
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and many others.
Please see some of the Thank You's the beneficiaries of our contributions have sent to us, below.
And if you're a DC Freemason, or member of a DC Eastern Star chapter, remember it's your support and the support of your lodges, chapters, and grand lodges and chapters that make this possible,
So, THANK YOU, too!
Support Our Work
All of these programs are only possible through the donations from our members, Eastern Star Chapters, Masonic Lodges, and the wider community. Consider donating today!