Elder Abuse: Three Honored for Protecting Elderly (OR. USA)

Three honored for protecting elderly
By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter
18 November 2008

Area women helped stop elder abuseThree local women are scheduled to be honored today at a banquet in Keizer for helping to protect senior citizens from crime, physical abuse and other dangers.

Patricia Coke of Corvallis, Helen Davidson of Bellfountain and Cynthia Janes of Corvallis will receive recognition from the Oregon Everyday Heroes Campaign, which was created in 2005 by the Governor’s Commission on Senior Services.

“It’s neat there’s a group trying to expose this problem in society,” said Coke, whose mother has been the victim of theft three times while living in assisted living facilities. “It’s much more rampant than anybody believes. … You look around and you wonder, ‘How many people have had it happen to them?’”

The campaign, which includes numerous government agencies as partners, tries to increase public awareness and reporting of elder abuse.

Davidson was a victim of elder abuse this year. On Sept. 19, she received a frantic phone call from a man she believed to be her grandson. She wired him $5,300, purportedly to get him out of jail. She learned two days later that she’d been scammed.

The Bellfountain resident agreed to be interviewed by the Gazette-Times regarding the crime, and that helped prevent two other people from falling prey to con artists, according to the Oregon Everyday Heroes Campaign.
“I’ve been made a fool of, but your getting the story on the front page did stop some others,” Davidson said. The newspaper article led to other media accounts, including television reports.

Last winter, Coke’s unofficial investigation led police to arrest a worker who was stealing from residents at Stoneybrook Assisted Living in Corvallis. Coke’s mother had $25,000 in jewelry taken from her, so Coke, a Corvallis retiree, turned detective. She visited pawn shops in Corvallis, Albany and Lebanon to help police track down the jewelry.

Cynthia Janes is the manager of the meal site and Meals on Wheels program at the Corvallis Senior Center. She is being honored for keeping seniors safe in communities. Janes keeps tabs on seniors above and beyond the call of duty. She watches out for those who are increasingly frail, disabled or at risk of abuse.

SOURCE: Corvallis Gazette Times- OR,USA
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Congratulations to Patricia Coke, Helen Davidson and Cynthia Janes! Thank you for your efforts. I hope more will follow your examples.

Elder Abuse is gross violation of Human Rights. It is a growing crime. More must be done to increase awareness and every little bit helps.
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