Late to the party, but I'll let you in on what both of my parents do. They each know a few people who are always a little short when bills come due, and rather than give them money, they have little odd jobs that while not urgent, would be nice to have done. So they pay those people some fixed amount to get a courtyard wall painted, or the garage door fixed, or a leaky faucet replaced, or the carpet scrubbed or whatever it is. They never pay by the hour (full job only, paid when complete), and they always wait until the person needs money. It works extremely well, as the person doesn't ask until there's an absolute need, and they don't create dependency by just giving money away.
Dub, if you're creative, you can come up with a hundred small errands you'd rather not do, and solve several problem. First, you'd become the "lender" of last resort, because there's work involved. Second, you'd get [Mark May] done. Third, you'd give her the dignity of earning money rather than sponging.
