So here's what we've found so far that we think will work---an '07 8-speed Raleigh on sale for $315 (Sora shifters). Best we seem to be able to do without spending a couple of months haunting Craig's List.
"My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks