The report describes a 3-day, two-part (community education and in-home counseling) rural elderly mental health project conducted in Waushara County, Wisconsin, during 1980-81. The first section details activities of the two components and the second section reports the clinician's experiences in the project. As covered in the first section, working with 36 in-home elderly and 308 elderly who attended education sessions results in these findings: (1) 86% suffered from depression (17% from loss of loved ones, 21% from marital problems, 48% from health problems); (2) accurate assessment required contact with other agencies; (3) establishing trusting relationships took longer than expected; (4) home settings promoted rapport; (5) in-home counseling was expensive, but necessary; (6) elderly were receptive to the education component; and (7) gossip was an unanticipated problem in the education component. In the second part, the clinician tells of her project experiences in working with elderly marital problems, sex counseling, parent-child relations, and chronic mild depression. The report concludes that the assignment of a particular clinician to work with the elderly strengthened the clinician's sensitivity to elderly issues and enhanced visibility within the community; however, the strain and emotional drain on the clinician were great. (AH)