In 2006, 9 Project Partners joined together to form Elder Support and Protection (ESP), a grant funded by the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The Project Partners are the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, Adult Protective Services, Family Services of the Mid-South, the University of Memphis, the Memphis Sexual Assault Resource Center, the Memphis YWCA and Compass Coordination, Inc. ELDER SUPPORT and PROTECTION (ESP) Mission Statement: Create a Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) in Memphis and Shelby County in order to increase the awareness of elder abuse as well as improve the intervention and response of agencies, programs and services so that our community is a safer and more supportive environment for the elderly to live. OUT OF THE ESP GRANT THE ESPR TEAM WAS DEVELOPED. ELDER SUPPORT and PROTECTION RESOURCE (ESPR) Mission Statement: ESPR is a community-based network dedicated to educating and empowering the community to meet the safety concerns of the aging population in Shelby County. For more information contact Patti Tosti, Project Manager at Compass Coordination, Inc. at (901) 682-0500 ext. 263 or patti.tosti@compasstn.org.

EVENTS:
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is scheduled for June 15th and will be observed in Memphis with a PUBLIC FORUM at the Benjamin Hooks Central Library on Poplar Avenue from 2:30pm-4:30pm. Mayor A.C. Wharton's office will proclaim June 15, 2009 as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day in Memphis and Shelby County. District Attorney General William Gibbons, Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, Shelby County Sheriff's Office Chief Terry Achels along with local Judges, Adult Protective Services and other representatives from agencies and organizations who serve Senior Citizens will be presenting information on how we are responding to the abuse of the elderly. Groups will exhibit information about the work that they do in our community. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Donna Downen at ddownen@utk.edu.

LOCAL ELDER ABUSE RESOURCE INFORMATION:
Click here to see the YWCA Elder Abuse Brochure