New headquarters opens for senior victims of crime
MEDIA » Among those crowded into a small room on the third floor of 20 S. Olive St. to officially open a newly renovated Senior Victims Services office under the auspices of the District Attorney’s office Friday was a man who could attest to the agency’s efforts first hand.
“I can’t sing the praises of (Director Chelsey Price) and her staff enough,” said Patrick Spinosa. “They not only perform their job, they care about their job and they care about every single person they help. It’s just amazing, the empathy that they have in terms of taking care of people, and I mean that sincerely.”
Spinosa, 64, of Chadds Ford, was the victim of a gunpoint robbery inside his business, Southwest Auto Tag Service at 63rd and Dicks Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia, on Oct. 8, 2015.
Spinosa had already told the robber to take whatever he wanted when the man stuck a gun into Spinosa’s chest, causing the victim to involuntarily react and fight back.
“He tried to shoot me and I stopped him from doing that, and then he stabbed me 27 times,” said Spinosa. “After he broke the knife on me, he decided to try to bludgeon me to death twice, and I stopped him from doing that, and then he tried to beat me with his fists. He left me there to die.”
Spinosa said he was barely able to summon the strength to call 911. Police reportedly found him inside his locked shop, unconscious. Spinosa was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he underwent five and a half hours of emergency surgery.
Spinosa said he credits the medical personnel at Penn Presbyterian with saving his life that night, but added that is Price and her team that have helped him survive all that came after, including the death of his wife.
“They followed up, they came to my house,” he said. “I was just overwhelmed by how much they care about what they do and the district attorney is very lucky to have a staff like this. Very lucky.”
“This really is truly a collaborative effort and it would not be possible without Delaware County Council, Dis- trict Attorney (Jack) Whelan and all the law enforcement and victim service providers that are here today,” said Price. “We are able to serve victims of crime here in Delaware County over the age of 55, we are able to assist them in receiving reimbursement for their crimes, and the advocates and volunteers here to my left – it would not be possible without their help as well.”
Price, who also sits on the Delaware County Heroin Task Force board, said the agency has helped more than 300 seniors and secured $75,000 through the Victim’s tion Fund over months alone.
“Delaware County is very fortunate to have a number of different service agencies and community resources for our seniors, and we want to make sure that they know of those,” said Price. “We are able and happy to do that under the district attorney’s office. We are able to provide them with information so that they can recover properly, to make sure that they recover with the dignity and respect that they deserve.”
Whelan explained that the non-profit Senior Vic- Compensathe last nine tims Services is not a new organization in the county, but was seeing its funding dry up. He said the county approached the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, who suggested the district attorney’s office expand to take over management of the organization.
That expansion is funded by an ongoing grant from the commission, which Whelan said will allow the office to operate well into the future. The renovations unveiled Friday include a new waiting area and offices that County Office of Services for the Aging planner Barbara Nicolardi said were more homey and consumer friendly.
“We’ve funded (Senior Victim Services) for as long as I’ve been at COSA, which is 25 years,” said Nicolardi. “So we’ve historically always helped play a role in working with them, and it’s always been a very collaborative effort in working together to help seniors.”
Nicolardi said she was happy to continue that effort now that the agency falls under the auspices of the district attorney’s office.
While the county has had a Senior Exploitation Unit in place since 2003, Whelan said the two entities perform very different tasks. In many cases, Whelan said senior victims will be able to immediately begin receiving help from the agency before any charges are even filed.
“This agency is specifically to cater to the victims of crime, to help them get reimbursement for any financial losses, to accompany them to court, to sit with them in the courtroom,” said Whelan. “Our trial attorneys will also meet with the victims of crime, but they don’t have the time or the ability to take them to court or to fill out all their victim compensation forms, so this new unit, this new agency, does all of that for them.”
Spinosa said he just wants others to know of the dedication Price and her staff have to the people they service.
“They’re good people,” he said. “And there’s a lot of good people out there. That’s what I want people to realize. Bad things happen to good people, but there’s a lot of good people out there who are there for you, whether you know it or not.”