Dear Friends,
Gloria was living in fear in her own home.
A 76-year-old widow, she was being abused by a younger relative – someone she had raised from childhood after his father had passed away. “Was something going to happen today?” she would ask herself each morning, dreading the next explosive attack.
If she refused to give him money, he would scream at her, spit on her, destroy items in the house, even locking her outside her own home when she tried to call the police. His behavior eventually escalated to physical abuse. She loved him – she had raised him – but she knew she couldn’t live like this.
Fearful for her safety, at her wit’s end, Gloria finally went to Family Court to file a temporary Protection From Abuse (PFA) order. The court staff referred her to us. Walking through our doors, “I was a nervous wreck,” Gloria remembered.
But at SeniorLAW Center, she found the help she needed to take back her life.
We listened to Gloria’s story and quickly connected her to a staff attorney on our Victim Services team. We alerted the local police to her situation; when her abuser tried to break into her house that night, patrol officers were there to stop him. Our staff attorney prepared Gloria for her court date and represented her at her final hearing, where the judge awarded her an 18-month full Protection order and her abuser’s eviction from her home.
After the hearing, overwhelmed with relief, Gloria turned to her attorney – her “miracle worker” – and hugged him.
Gloria no longer wakes up with dread for the day ahead. Now, she can live safely and peacefully in her house, free from abuse and violence.
This is the vital work that your gift supports. For Gloria, for each of the thousands of older adults we serve each year, caring people like you make the difference.
Many of the clients we serve live deeply in or near poverty. Many are homebound, disabled, or in poor health. And all too often, they find themselves facing some of the most difficult challenges of their lives alone: financial exploitation, an illegal eviction, foreclosure of the family home, or the threat of losing their most fundamental rights.
This is the difference that your gift makes at SeniorLAW Center. For Sharon – for the thousands of older adults we serve each year – it is simply life-changing.
The need for SeniorLAW Center’s legal services is immense. The older people we serve live in or near poverty. Many are homebound, disabled, or in poor health. They are vulnerable to elder abuse, financial exploitation, housing discrimination, and homelessness.
Through your support, our staff of nonprofit attorneys and advocates provide services in all of these areas and many more, serving over 10,000 individuals each year in Philadelphia, the 5-county region, and – through our statewide SeniorLAW HelpLine – all of Pennsylvania.
A gift from you means that older members of our community have somewhere to turn to for help, for justice. So that during some of the most difficult situations of their lives – being abused by a loved one, fearing the foreclosure of their family home, or trapped in an unnecessary guardianship – they won’t have to struggle to navigate the legal system alone.
Your gift makes sure of that.
Will you be there for those who need us most?
I want you to know that the impact of your gift extends beyond our clients. Through our advocacy work, we help change systems and laws which affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of older adults, families, and kids.
You ensure that their voices – their needs – are heard.
Our work depends on you – and caring people like you – to join us in making our vision a reality: a world that values older people, hears their voices, and guarantees their rights.
It’s a world where older adults who are abused or financially exploited can get the legal protection they need to live with safety and dignity. Where grandparents have the resources to raise grandchildren who have been abandoned, abused, or neglected. And where a 77-year-old widow – regardless of her income – can fight an unjust eviction.
Will you join us in support of that vision? We would be so grateful if you would make a gift of $50, $75, $100, or more.
Our work depends on you – and caring people like you – to join us in making our vision a reality.
Thank you for joining us and for supporting those who paved the way for all of us.
Wishing you and your loved ones warm and safe holidays.
With Gratitude,
Karen C. Buck, Esq.
Executive Director
P.S. “I still feel relieved,” Gloria told us recently. As a result of coming to SeniorLAW Center, her life is so much better, “clearer and happier.” For the first time in years her life now feels peaceful and safe.
Will you give to SeniorLAW Center in honor of Gloria’s courage and the thousands that we help every year? Through your gift, you can ensure that vulnerable older adults in our community have a place to turn in order to seek justice.
Please make your tax-deductible gift today by clicking here. Thank you!