By Lauren Harksen
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - A new nonprofit is dedicated to combatting elder abuse in the Birmingham area.
Alabama has an elder abuse registry. The governor signed Shirley’s Law only a few weeks ago.
With the creation of the new law, comes the new organization called See Something, Say Something.
“We want people to know -- rather than saying, ‘There’s nothing you can do. You can’t fight the big people at the top.’ Yes, you can if you come together because they’re organized at the top, we want to be organized a little lower,” said Edward Coke, the President of the See Something, Say Something committee.
The group was created in late March. Coke says their focus is on elder abuse coming from the high officials, because sometimes people with power abuse that power.
“They are abusing the elderly with the judgements and the decisions that they’re making and handling their legal affairs,” said Coke. “It’s really an unspoken atrocity that’s going on.”
In March, Governor Kay Ivey signed the Elder Abuse Law, also known as Shirley’s Law. It creates a registry for elder care agencies to check if a person has been convicted of elder abuse.
In a press release, the nonprofit describes what elder abuse is: “It’s taking money or resources from an elderly person. It’s pushing or shoving them. It’s leaving them unattended when they cannot care for themselves. It’s using the legal system or any entity in order to take advantage of the elderly (among other things).”
“I used to work in a nursing home to where I seen first-hand that you have employees, particularly nurses, there that are stealing money from them, they’re stealing possessions that they have in their rooms, they’re treating elders with disrespect,” said Vice President Keith Williams.
Williams says elder abuse comes in many shapes and sizes, that’s why the creation of See Something, Say Something is so important.
“We are the advocacy group that has been formed to stand in the gap for the hurting and the most vulnerable,” said Patricia Bell, the communications director.
The group wants those to come forward if they believe they were a victim of elder abuse.
“We know there’s a lot of people that’s scared,” said Williams. “They don’t know what to do. They believe they can’t fight city hall. Call See Something, Say Something. We’ll fight city hall for you and we will be your voice.”
The organization says the public is invited to contact them through their Facebook page.
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