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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 14, 2012)
M arch 14. 2012 Page 18 T erry F amily 2337 N. Williams Ave. Portland, Or 97227 503-249-1788 We make the service personal. Yon make the tribute personal. Every time we arrange a personalized funeral service, we take special pride going the extra mile. With our online Memorial Obituary, now we can do even more. Friends and family can find out service information, view photos, read obituary, order flowers and leave personal messages of condolences from anywhere, anytime. Simply go to our website. www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com "Dedicated to providing excellent service and superior care o f your loved one ” Dwight A. Terry Oregon License CO-3644 Amy S. Terry Oregon License FS-0395 photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver A public forum addresses elder abuse. According to Multnomah County, 84 percent o f crimes against the elderly went unreported last year. Crimes against Elderly c o n t i n u e d f r o m front We would like to invite you to our Good Friday Pastors Jerry & Annie Gutierrez Passover Service Join us for this very special night of celebration! New Song Community Center 2511 NE MLK Blvd • Portland, OR 97212 Corner o f NE MLK Blvd and Russell Street DOORS OPEN AT 6PM FOR EVERY SERVICE. For directions or more information, call 503-488-5481 or log on to w w w .m f h m p o r t la n d .c o m markers and indicators of abuse and to protect the victims of abuse,” he said. Looking around the room on Fri day, he said more than 50 organiza tions, including police officers, state and local politicians, non-profits and medical caretakers showed up to partake in the forum. “We hope to reduce the inci dents o f abuse in M ultnom ah County and the whole state of Or egon,” he said. A ccording to Sgt. M argaret Bahnson of the Portland Police Bureau’s Vulnerable Adult Unit, the community needs to be educated on what is going on, so prevention can begin to take place. “I am here to network and share information to see what we can do collaboratively to come up with ways to reduce abuse to vulnerable adults,” she said. “We know these cases are underreported.” B ahnson said her unit, w hich is co m p rised o f tw o d etectiv es and tw o o ffice rs, is w orking at c ap acity , w ith cases av erag in g one p er hour. “A lot of what we actually seem to be doing the most are financial exploitation cases,” she said. The most recent one involved a man with a developmental disability en couraged to invest in a scam com pany. “He lost about $40,000,” she said. Another common crime is steal ing money from elderly parents or grandparents, by “tricking them, basically,” she said. “Prevention is the most effective tool available to combat this kind of abuse.” Holly Freewynn, who works for Multnomah County Adult Protec tive Services, agreed. Throughout the week, Freewynn conducts a number of unannounced home visits to investigate allega tions reported of financial exploita tions. “We are required by statute to visit if we get referrals, and the screeners are the ones who decide how quickly we go out after some one calls in,” she said. “My goal is to prevent financial exploitation because it is so devastating to our seniors.” Freewynn said one reason she is so dedicated to her work is because the abuse has been proven to affect the longevity and health of an individual’s life. “I’m really passionate about fi n an cial e x p lo ita tio n s because people who are exploited tend to die earlier and suffer more illnesses than their peers who aren’t,” she said. According to Freewynn, the calls about elder abuse come from every type of person and organization within the community, including the police, case workers, care takers, family members, and banks. “They come from everywhere and anyone concerned,” she said. For more information on ways to recognize crimes against the elderly or to report an incident, visit multco.us/ads or call 503-988-3646.
