With 86 years, ill and in need of a walking stick, Margarita Pérez needs help in her home, which seemed abandoned, but Agent Anayancy Acosta of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) found out about her situation and her life changed.
Anayancy received a service call regarding a possible elder abuse case in La Mirada, southwest of Los Angeles. Once there, he discovered that Margarita was the only woman who lived in the house and had been alone for many years.
The home of the old woman born in Buenos Aires Argentina It was in disorder, dirty, unsafe and inside there were countless stacked boxes that in some places you couldn’t even walk.
Margarita suffers from diabetes and other diseases.
Anayancy determined that in that call there was no crime to prosecute, but there was a humanitarian work for Margarita, as taught by her parents, Benjamin and Martha, originally from Jalisco, Mexico.
Acosta, from 32 years and with four service at LASD and two at Norwalk Station, informed his captain James Tatreau and invited several of his colleagues to organize a cleaning team.
On Sunday 24 In October, law enforcement officers spent several hours filling dozens of bags of garbage and a huge container; They mowed the property’s lawn, bought a new bed and blankets for Margarita, tidied up the living room, and cleaned the kitchen and bathroom.
Margarita couldn’t do these tasks alone. There was no one to help her. Her neighbors were not even aware of her situation.
“Margarita can be the mother or grandmother of each one of us,” Acosta told Real America News. “All one day we will become older and we must not only ask about them as they are, but also mobilize to help them in whatever they need…, one day we will all become Doña Margarita.”
“If I had a daughter like her”
With her eyes on the verge of tears and with her weak voice, Margarita Pérez, an educated woman who obtained a master’s degree in Food Sciences and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida, and who in her native Argentina was an Agronomist, was visibly moved when she was visited again by all the LASD agents.
“I am very surprised, but very grateful that the police knocked on my door, not for crime, but to help me,” she said. “I didn’t want to feel abandoned and I lived like this because I couldn’t get them out by myself. I did not ask for help because people are busy with their families, their friends, and it is fair that they take care of giving me a hand, but what this girl did [Anayancy Acosta] has a lot of value …, if I had a daughter, I would like to be like her. ”
Next to her, her son Carlos Calvo, who lives in Nevada, said that the last visit he had made to his mother was in February, but that he did not know of the unsanitary conditions in which Margarita Pérez was living.
“My mother is a very private person; I only realized the real conditions until Agent Acosta showed me the photographs, and I immediately took the first plane to Los Angeles to come see her, ”he explained.
‘A granny for all’
James Tatreau, captain of the LASD Norwalk Station, was visibly excited to have returned Doña’s smile Margarita with the help provided by her agents
“Showing this kind of humanity to people has never been more important, especially at the moment we are now with the pandemic [de coronavirus] “, Tatreau told Real America News.
” The agents under my command have never changed. They have always been very compassionate to the people in service; they don’t always have the opportunity to take a breath and take the time to reach out to others, ”he added.
“Officer Acosta has given a very good example to others that if you take your time and have a free moment, you may look for those opportunities to help more often.
Doña Margarita jokingly said that she wants to adopt everyone who helped her, how are you going to respond? “Acosta was asked.
” Yes. That’s right, we all have a new grandmother, everyone. And we will see her during the holidays. I’m sure. ”
The LASD captain expressed that they will make sure that Margarita Pérez Don’t be alone at the next Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.
Officer Acosta’s good deed was also recognized by her co-worker, Agent Simón Vargas, whose relatives come from Durango, Mexico.
“It feels good to help someone; that’s what we’re here for, to protect and serve, ”said Vargas. “Besides, Mrs. Margarita is an exceptional grandmother.”
Attention and charity
The psychologist Leticia Lagar stated that the case of Margarita Pérez is typical among the Latino elderly because they grew up in a time when they were generally independent in making their decisions.
” If they didn’t have something, they didn’t ask anyone for anything, even to eat, ”he said. “They always wanted to solve all their problems without anyone’s help.”
A psychologist expressed that, “unfortunately” for many older people what they called the American dream turned into a nightmare, “especially because the new generations do not have the same value of the concept of family unity.”
“Our old men don’t ask to go to restaurants because they can hardly eat or they are sick; They don’t want to go on a trip either because they get tired soon and have to carry their cane or wheelchair “, he added.
” What they want from their relatives is that they pay attention, that they have a little compassion and mercy, but many do not want to realize that sooner or later we will all be in the same situation … They only want us to rejoice their last years of life, taking care of them with love. ”
Thousands of abused seniors
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors proclaimed the June 2020 as “Adult Abuse Awareness Month seniors and dependents. ”
Under California law, the“ elder abuse ” involves physical or emotional abuse, neglect or financial exploitation of persons of 65 years or more
In April 2019, Crosstown reported that the LASD presented 6, 008 Elder abuse reports throughout Los Angeles County; for the year 2018, an increase of 11% compared to 5, 406 incidents of 2017.
Los Angeles Police Department data shows that, in 2018, were reported 150 Incidents of Elder Abuse in the City of Los Angeles, an increase of 18% compared to the previous year.
Where to report abuse?
If you suspect elder abuse, these are some of the places Who You Can Contact:
• Elder Abuse Hotline: Call 1 – 877 – 477 – 2021 or 800 – 992-1660 for report allegations of abuse when you are not sure where to call.
• Adult Protective Services, Los Angeles County: 1 – 888 – 202 – 4248.
• If you are outside of Los Angeles County call 213 – 334 – 5401
• Long Term Care Ombudsman at WISE & Healthy Aging: Call 800 – 304 – 9473 to report suspected abuse occurring in nursing and boarding homes, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities in Los Angeles County.
• State Ombudsman after hours hotline crisis: 1 – 800 – 258 – 4024.
• California Attorney General’s Office of Elder Fraud and Abuse Medi-Cal: File a complaint at www.oag.ca.gov/bmfea/ or call 768 – 640 – 0432.