Kelly Matheson's Content

An Age for Justice: Confronting Elder Abuse in America

Kelly Matheson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:56:52 -0700

“An Age for Justice; Elder Abuse in America,” a new video produced by the Elder Justice Now campaign, shows the families and individuals whose lives have been turned upside down by elder abuse. The video provides stark proof of the financial, emotional, and phsycial and psychological impact of the violence and abuse that an estimated five million Americans face every day. We hear from Vicki Bastion, 92, who installed a security gate inside her home to protect herself and what valuables she had left from her grandson and his gang‐related friends; Betty Beckles talks about her daughter beating her; Bob Lee tells us about his father, who was victimized by a paid caregiver causes depression that contributed to his death; and Pat Smith tells us about her husband, who has Alzheimer’s disease and was victimized financially by a young woman in Las Vegas who walked with $750,000. The video was produced by the National Council on Aging and WITNESS, to shine the light on what one interviewee called a “dark mark on our humanity.”

An Elder Abuse Survivor Speaks Out and Asks Congress to Act

Kelly Matheson — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:40:01 -0700

This video is from a woman who endured physical elder abuse and is part of the Elder Justice Now Campaign -- a national campaign to break the silence on elder abuse and pass the Elder Justice Act.

She talks about how difficult it truly is to report abuse when it is happening at the hands of your only son. She also asks members of the Congress to act immediately of behalf of the elders who need help now but also for all of us that are seniors to come.

She shares this story because there is a silent crisis that affects every community in America: Elder abuse. Each year an estimated 5 million of America’s older adults are beaten, ignored or financially exploited. Yet, as a country, we remain silent about this growing crisis.

To begin to address this problem, Congress has an immediate opportunity to pass federal legislation that will provide a foundation from which we can begin to protect our country’s elders — the Elder Justice Act. But we cannot do this without your help. Please help us break the silence by adding your voice to the national campaign and urge Congress to pass the Elder Justice Act now!

Get Involved: http://www.ElderJusticeNow.org

A Critical Moment: Urge Your Senator to Pass the Elder Justice Act!

Kelly Matheson — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:03:51 -0700

UPDATE, 22 SEPTEMBER: Good news, but your help is still urgently needed! U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus released a list of proposed amendments that he was immediately accepting for addition to the health care legislation. This document - called the "Chairman's Mark" - includes the original health reform legislation plus the automatically adopted amendments. This will likely the base text that the Committee members will debate. The good news: the Elder Justice Act (EJA) was included in the Chairman's Mark. What does this mean for the EJA? It means that if the Finance Committee approves its version of health reform legislation later this week or next, the Senate will have once again approved the EJA. But we still need the U.S. House of Representatives for the EJA to become law. It also means that your voice is crucial for securing House support for the EJA - please act now.

In June, we told you about our new partnership with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) on a campaign to protect Older Americans from abuse, exploitation and neglect. The campaign has been gaining momentum and many of you have already shared your stories and sent video messages urging Congress to prioritize this issue. This week, there is a critical opportunity to advance the Elder Justice Act — the federal law that will finally bring a coordinated approach to ending elder abuse in this country.
You can help.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is now considering the Elder Justice Act as an amendment to its health reform bill. This amendment would represent the most significant federal commitment to date to combat elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It provides an unprecedented and dedicated funding stream for Adult Protective Services (APS), which operate in all states and are the frontline workers helping elder abuse victims.
It is critical the Elder Justice Act pass now because elder abuse is a growing national epidemic. There is elder abuse occurring in every zip code in the United States affecting our health care system, our economy and our social fabric.
Watch and hear the stories of some our America’s abused and neglected elders from older adults themselves, their families and those who serve them in local communities across the country. We hope that once you have seen their stories you will take up this charge along with us.
Take action:
1) Sign a petition calling on the U.S. Congress to Pass the Elder Justice Act Now
2) Write to your Senator today to request support for the EJA - it’s critical to act now because the committee is marking up its health reform bill this week.
3) Make your message more powerful and put a human face on elder abuse by including a link to one of these videos and amplifying the voices victimized older adults.
Thanks for your support!

***Learn more about the Elder Justice Now campaign.

Elder Abuse: Carolyn shares her story

Kelly Matheson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:24:43 -0700

This testimony was shared by Carolyn Crewey from Houston, Texas, as a part of the Elder Justice Now Campaign - a national campaign to break the silence on elder abuse and pass the Elder Justice Act.

In the video, Carolyn tells us how she survived elder abuse at the hands of a good friend.

Elder abuse is a silent crisis that affects every community in the U.S.: each year an estimated 5 million of America’s older adults are beaten, ignored or financially exploited. Yet as a country, we remain silent about this growing crisis.

Act now!

Get Involved -> http://ElderJusticeNow.org

A Silent Crisis: Elder Abuse and Justice in America

Kelly Matheson — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:28:45 -0700

My grandmother’s life intersected squarely with the unprecedented rise in life expectancy for all elders. This rise has also led to one of our greatest silent crises: elder abuse.

About same time Alzheimer’s began to cloud my grandmother's once sharp mind, she heard a knock on the door of her 3rd floor apartment in Des Moines, Iowa. She opened it to find a friendly salesman selling John F. Kennedy half-dollars made out of pure gold in a frame with a blue velvet backing. They made an exchange --she handed him a check for $900 and the swindler gave her one dollar in coins.

ELDER ABUSE IN THE UNITED STATES
For millions of elderly people in the United States just like my grandmother, living longer has also meant living in silent fear, battered and beaten, preyed upon, often quieted by shame. Elder abuse is a prolific problem that comes in many forms – physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect and financial exploitation, with many elders suffering more than just one type of abuse. Of the five million elders estimated to suffer abuse in the U.S. alone each year, the vast majority are subject to multiple forms of mistreatment. They are also three times more likely to die prematurely than those who are not victimized.

Yet, elder abuse is not perceived as a national tragedy. No one talks about it. Silence remains, in part, because many of our elders are isolated by and dependent on those who hurt them, and the perceived shame and stigma of disclosing that they are suffering at the hands of their own caregiver can act as a powerful silencer. But abuse also stays hidden because many older Americans don’t have the means or the capacity to report it.

At the rare times when elder abuse is publicly discussed, the conversations usually feature the voices Elder Justice advocates, social workers or journalists. A typical example is this CBS News report from 2006. Only occasionally do we get a glimpse into the elders' views which can be seen in this video taken at an elder justice rally.

Insights from these experts are critical in the fight to secure justice for older Americans but so is the wisdom from these elders themselves, and to date their voices have been absent from the debate that affects them most directly.

I was surprised to learn how deeply buried this issue is because elder abuse touches us all. It cuts across gender, social, racial, ethnic, economic and geographic lines - yet it’s rarely mentioned in social justice or human rights circles nationally or even internationally. Key UN documents from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Millennium Development Goals omit any mention of age. And here at home the U.S Congress has yet to pass comprehensive federal legislation to protect our oldest members of society, placing it 20 years behind advocacy to protect children from abuse and 10 years behind the work to end domestic violence.

THE ELDER JUSTICE COALITION
To address this colossal fissure in our laws, more than 500 members of the Elder Justice Coalition (EJC) have been vigilantly working over the course of the last decade to secure the passage of the Elder Justice Act (EJA) through Congress. Passing this Act will provide us with a foundation from which we can begin to protect our society’s elders because it will provide long-needed support for programs to help us understand how to prevent and detect abuse, intervene where it happens, treat victims with dignity and respect, and fairly prosecute perpetrators.

Yet despite the EJA’s principled objectives and many years of effort, one of the authors of the Act, Marie-Therese Connolly explains, “Comprehensive federal laws to combat child abuse and domestic violence have had an immense impact for decades. By contrast, the relatively uncontroversial Elder Justice Act has languished (in Congress) since 2002.” With the recent changes in Washington, now is the time to pass this act and give America’s elders the security, dignity and equality they deserve.

A NEW WITNESS PARTNERSHIP with the NATIONAL COUNCIL ON AGING
So why is this important to WITNESS? We are partnering with the National Council on Aging (NCOA) – which has been working on behalf of disadvantaged and vulnerable Elders for over 60 years - to bring the voices of Older Americans to this debate, heighten the visibility of Elder abuse, and end Congressional complacency. In addition to securing passage of the EJA, WITNESS and NCOA will work with Elder Justice organizations across the country, training activists in strategic video advocacy planning and giving them the skills necessary to collect stories of abuse to bring Elder Justice into the national conversation.

Once footage from across the country has been gathered and edited, we will collaborate to reach key Congressional representatives, the national media and our citizenry with compelling stories which will force us to face our elders, end our collective denial and pass the EJA.

YOU TOO CAN STAND UP FOR OUR ELDERS
WITNESS and NCOA are just beginning work on the planning of this video advocacy campaign. We'd like you to join in as we move forward with this campaign to pass the Elder Justice Act and showcase the voices of older Americans:

•   Return to the Hub Blog for updates on the production process in the weeks and months ahead
•   Sign up for the Video for Change newsletter for updates on the Elder Justice Campaign
•   Read more about the work of the NCOA at http://www.ncoa.org, and
•   Visit the site of the Elder Justice Coalition at http://www.elderjusticecoalition.com/

Most of all though, we ask you to listen as we bring the voices of American’s elders to you throughout this campaign. Please hear what they have to say. Respect their voice. Value their wisdom. Add yours.

[This post was written by Nicole Schilit, WITNESS' North America
Program Intern, and Kelly Matheson, North America Program Coordinator]

Break the Silence: Elder Abuse in America

Kelly Matheson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:24:34 -0700

There is a silent crisis that effects every community in America: Elder abuse. Every year an estimated 5 million of America's older adults are beaten, ignored or financially exploited. Yet, as a country, we remain silent about this growing crisis.

To begin to address this problem, Congress has an immeidate opportunity to pass federal legislation that will provide a foundation from which we can begin to protect our country's elders -- the Elder Justice Act. But we cannot do this without your help. Please help us break the silence by adding your voice to the national campaign and urge Congress to pass the Elder Justice Act now!

Made in L.A. - Making a Difference

Kelly Matheson — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:16:11 -0700

Made in L.A. is an Emmy award-winning documentary film that tells the story of three immigrant women working in garment sweatshops of Los Angeles. Although it portrays the dark side of consumerism, it also explores the power of workers and advocates coming together to fight for immigrant workers' rights. In the film, the three women take a stand and fight for basic labor protections from the popular clothing retailer Forever 21. The film highlights the ways in which the American immigration system is broken by exposing the violations of basic human rights that immigrants endure and the types of reforms that need to be implemented. Here's the trailer:

Immigration advocates strongly believe reforms must include fair wages, fair hours, fair conditions, and an end to the exploitation and abuse of both documented and undocumented immigrant workers. In order to protect American immigrants and workers, the U.S. needs to protect their human rights by restoring law enforcement and security for the people who need it most. In addition, the government must strive to provide paths to citizenship as well as programs to promote the reunification of families. America as a whole also needs to end immigrant discrimination today and to realize that to deny immigrants these basic human rights is to deny who we are and our nation's history. Made in L.A. highlights this reality:

Looking back on the story of how the United States was built, it is impossible not to acknowledge the contributions and sacrifices made by immigrants. They came to the United States to make a better life for themselves and in turn made a better life for all members of American society.

FILM FOR CHANGE
But how can a film help bring about desperately needed reforms to one of our country's most heated debates? Made in L.A.'s first success stems from the way in which it successfully humanizes an issue that has been suppressed for far too long. This film has not only shares the story of three women, but it also comes to represent an entire population struggling for their basic human rights. Hearing them tell their own story speaks volumes louder than hearing it from someone else. Consequently, it brings home an issue that many think is far away and does not concern them, because we all share in common - with the three women in Made in L.A. too - the dream of a fair and just society.

Made in L.A. is also making a difference with its diverse and strategic outreach plan. It's reaching people all over the world through hundreds of screenings across the USA, Latin America, Europe, Caribbean and even the Middle East. It was broadcast nationally on P.O.V., an award-wining independent documentary showcase on PBS (public television). But maybe almost as importantly, the film is directly reaching an audience with the power to actually enact comprehensive immigration reform - on April 1st, Made in L.A. was screened on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to members of Congress and to national immigration advocates. And around May Day, the filmmakers are working with a number of groups to host screenings of the film and to use it to sensitize people to the issue of immigration and supporting humane immigration reform.

MOVING FORWARD

There are a number of ways that you too can help make a difference in this debate and get engaged in the fight to build a society that protects human rights for all. Here are a few:

1 - Host a Screening and Support the Campaign
You too can join the cause and make a difference by joining the May Day Screening Campaign.

2 - Help Raise Awareness Around the Issue of Immigration Reform
Forward the video above to your friends and colleagues to spread the word...

3 - Shop Sweatshop-Free!
You can find a list of ways to shop sweatshop-free at Made in L.A. 's Get Involved paage (scroll down for information on sweat free communities).

---

[This post was written by Nicole Schilit, WITNESS' North America Program Intern, and Kelly Matheson, North America Program Coordinator]

Elder Justice: My Grandmother's Story

Kelly Matheson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:57:27 -0700

Many of us have been touched by elder abuse yet few of us talk about the issue. I think if we begin sharing our hidden stories of elder abuse, we will begin not only to realize how pervasive elder abuse really is in our society, but also that we have the responsibility and power to stop it.

Elder Justice: NCEA Join Us Now Campaign with William Mapother

Kelly Matheson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:50:07 -0700

Over the course of the last two decades, the National Center on Elder Abuse - a program of the Administration on Aging - has been vigilantly working to bring attention to the issue of elder abuse. Their Join Us Now campaign asks that we all join in the fight to end elder abuse and restore rights for older Americans.

Elder Justice: Share a Story

Kelly Matheson — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:54:17 -0700

IT'S TIME TO SPEAK OUT

On May 22nd in theatres across the United States, actor William Mapother - best known for his role as Ethan in the television series Lost - will ask all Americans to join him in the fight to end elder abuse and restore rights for older Americans.

Unfortunately, no one is guaranteed to be free from abuse in our latter years. Elder abuse affects millions of citizens each year in the United States and cuts across gender, racial, ethnic, religious, geographic and socio-economic lines. Perhaps even more importantly, the problem is only poised to grow as the boomer generation starts to retire. So it’s vital that we come together, bring this problem out of the shadows and speak up about an issue that has or will affect each of us personally, whether when our own basic rights are violated or when elder abuse happens to someone we may know.

Over the course of the last two decades, the National Center on Elder Abuse - a program of the Administration on Aging - has been working diligently to bring attention to this issue. Their Join Us Now campaign which sponsored the elder abuse information piece above is only part of a larger effort to bring the issue of elder abuse out of the shadows. WITNESS and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) are supporting this effort by asking you to share your stories about elder abuse as well as your though on how we can stop this crisis. My own personal story is below and also in this piece I wrote a few weeks ago.

Next month, as part of our partnership to end elder abuse with NCOA, we will be at the University of Southern California to train elder justice advocates from across the country how to use video to advocate for elder rights. Our two main goals will be:

1) to bring elder abuse into the national spotlight by empowering elders to share their stories and communicate their needs to key decision-makers;

2) to secure the passage of the Elder Justice Act so we can have a federal foundation on which to build security, dignity and equality for community members who have given us a lifetime of contributions.

GET INVOLVED

There are a number of ways you too can help make a difference and get engaged in the fight to build a society that protects the rights of all its members. Here are a few:

1) Help Raise Awareness About Elder Justice

In addition to emailing your friends and family to let them know about this campaign, you can also join the WITNESS email list where we'll post regular updates about this campaign.

2) Share your story about elder abuse

Join the conversation on the Hub by leaving a comment below or uploading a video about Elder Justice (to upload, join the Hub now - it's easy and free). Make sure to tag your video "Elder Justice". You can also add your story to NCOA’s website by clicking here.

3) Stay Informed!

Subscribe to our Video for Change newsletter and join the NCOA network.

And finally, a special word to Bloggers & Vloggers... Help us spread the word - if you blog about the Elder Justice Campaign, please send us an email or a tweet (@witnessorg)... Also, if you want to add a Hub button on your blog, get one here!