This week The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention announced their new name: The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Justice. This innovative Center is the nation’s first comprehensive regional elder abuse shelter, serving eligible seniors who are 60 years and older. We are excited to see the expansion of their important work and their progress as an organization. Please read the below letter written by the Center’s Director and Managing Attorney, Joy Solomon, to learn more about the important work this organization is doing to create elder justice in our world.
Dear Friend,
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention is delighted to share that we will now be known as The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Center for Elder Justice.
As a national leader in elder abuse prevention for over thirteen years, we have learned that elder abuse victims, and indeed all older adults, need to be seen and heard, and have access to appropriate services. In particular, elder abuse victims require specialized medical care, practical legal assistance, compassionate case management, individualized therapeutic intervention, caring community, strong transition support and nurturing relationships. We have evolved to broaden and deepen our awareness of these valuable and so often intangible concepts, which we understand, collectively, as JUSTICE.
Moving forward, our innovative work in elder abuse prevention will continue, as we expand our reach, empowering older adults and confronting ageism, with a commitment to the following five areas:
1. Shelter. WE WILL continue our founding commitment to provide short-term shelter at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale. Shelter, in our vision, is a holistic, trauma-informed model of care that includes high intensity legal, therapeutic and medical support provided in a framework of relationship between the client and our supportive, multi-disciplinary team.
2. SPRiNG Alliance. WE WILL assist others around the United States and the world in adopting our pioneering, flexible model to create their own unique version of shelter. We will lead the effort to expand and strengthen the SPRiNG (Shelter Partners: Regional, National, Global) Alliance® to build the size, capacity and reach of the shelter movement.
3. Legal Services and Initiatives. WE WILL provide direct and immediate legal services to our clients and advocate for increased access and visibility for older adults within the broader legal system.
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4. Partnerships and Collaborations. WE WILL further a nuanced understanding of the issue of elder abuse through strong partnerships and innovative collaborations with other providers, thought leaders, and researchers around the globe. This includes critical work around salient issues such as screening for elder abuse, cost-efficacy models, sexuality, caregiver resilience, trauma, and the role of technology in elder abuse prevention. The voices of older adults will continue to inform our work.
5. Education and Outreach. WE WILL advance public and professional awareness around the issues of elder abuse and elder justice through education and outreach, training, and development of professional resources.
Our roots encompass social justice and justice for all. We are buoyed by the hopeful and expansive message this path conveys. By reaching higher, towards the light of justice, we hope to illuminate a wider sphere, broadening and deepening our impact on the systems we touch and the clients we serve.
We are grateful for your support and guidance.
