|
|
A Safe Haven for Abused Seniors
By Sondra Wolfe, DAILY NEWS
June 12, 2005
Handing over his Social Security check to his grown son wasn't too much. His son using the money to buy drugs wasn't too much.
Collecting bottles and cans all day so he would have money to eat wasn't too much.
It was his son's demand - not request - that he move with him away from New York City that was, finally, too much.
This was the story of a 78-year-old Queens man who became one of the first residents of a new shelter for elderly victims of abuse that has opened at The Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale.
"Something sort of clicked, and this man reached out to someone at his senior center and they reached out to us," said Ann Marie Levine, director of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention.
It is the first shelter in New York State dedicated to elderly victims of mental, physical, financial or sexual abuse, and one of only a few such shelters across the country.
"There is not another elder abuse shelter. I was shocked," said Daniel Reingold, president of The Hebrew Home. "We knew we needed one in New York."
An estimated 550,000 people age 65 or older were abused in 1996 across the country, according to the first National Elder Abuse Incidence Study.
The exact rates are unclear because many victims don't seek help and there is no mandatory reporting of elder abuse, as there is with spousal or child abuse.
Law enforcement officials and social service workers agree that it is a growing problem, and that reported cases are likely to be a fraction of the actual incidence of abuse.
"It's very badly needed," said Odalys Alonso, who oversees the elder abuse initiative in the Bronx District Attorney's Office. "It's a great tool for us. I wish there were more places that could do that."
The new 31-bed temporary shelter is in a renovated wing of the Hebrew Home, with two specialized nurses, a social worker and a lawyer on staff.
Patients receive one-to-one counseling, medical care, legal assistance, transportation, hot meals and clothing, if needed.
"This place is ideal because it's a place where older people's needs are already being met. Domestic violence shelters are ill-equipped to deal with older people," said Joy Solomon, of the Pace Women's Justice Center, which provides legal support for the shelter.
Most importantly, the elderly victims are given time. Many struggle with feelings of failure and guilt because the abusers often are their children. Some find it too painful to press charges against a family member or contemplate any legal action. Age-related health problems, such as memory loss, are a further complication.
Often, victims choose to return to the abusive situation.
"But they go back stronger and knowing they have support and someplace to go," Levine said.
The shelter provides education and outreach at senior centers, retirement homes and shopping centers, as well as training police, ambulance drivers and doormen to spot signs of abuse.
Victims of abuse or people who think someone they know is being abused can call the shelter at (800) 56-SENIOR.
|
|
