The Elder Financial Safety Center, a collaborative partnership of The Senior Source, Dallas County Probate Courts and District Attorney’s Office, has received a $6,000 grant from the Texas Bar Foundation. The grant will go toward the development of financial exploitation awareness forums and resources for older adults and the general public starting in the spring of 2017.

The Elder Financial Safety Center, a public safety project made possible by the W.W. Caruth, Jr., Foundation of Communities Foundation of Texas, was launched in May of 2014 as the first of its kind in the nation to address the financial security of older adults through prevention, protection and prosecution services. Since its inception, it has served more than 3,600 clients and has had a financial impact of nearly $53 million by addressing issues such as money management and fraud advocacy, benefits and insurance counseling, employment assistance, guardianship for vulnerable older adults, identity theft and power of attorney abuse. 

“The funds provided to us by the Texas Bar Foundation are critically important for our efforts to educate the community on prevention regarding frauds, scams, and exploitation of our older adults.” says Julie Krawczyk, director of the Elder Financial Safety Center. “$36 billion was taken from older adults in the U.S. just last year due to financial crimes.”

Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $16 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, The Texas Bar Foundation is the nation’s largest charitable-funded bar foundation.