Lakeland Bank has joined with CRA Partners to help provide funding for the Senior Crimestoppers program for the residents at the Friedwald Center for Rehab and Nursing in New City, N.Y. Crime against the elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities can be reduced and prevented through the Senior Crimestoppers program.
“Lakeland Bank is proud to work with an organization that is dedicated to helping and protecting the senior citizens in our community. Our investment in the foundation will help Friedwald Rehab and Nursing Center offer a greater sense of security with a program that is designed to deter crime before it becomes an issue,” said John Rath, first senior vice president of Lakeland Bank.
“Senior Crimestoppers is a way for an administrator to further enhance the lives of the residents they serve. They all work hard to provide safe, secure, comfortable living environments and implementing this program is just one example of this. Use of this program does not mean the facility has a crime problem, but that the administrator is proactively finding a way to keep problems from occurring in the future,” said Terry Rooker, president of Senior Crimestoppers.
Senior Crimestoppers is a coordinated set of components that works to create a zero tolerance of crime in senior housing facilities. Components include cash rewards up to $1,000 paid anonymously for information about wrongdoing of any kind, personal lockboxes for residents, and effective, on-going education and training for staff members and residents. Senior Crimestoppers has reduced all aspects of crime in participating facilities by 94%.
CRA Partners, powered by the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation, is a national organization that guarantees banks federally mandated CRA credit through the operation of the turn-key Senior Crimestoppers program providing safe and secure living environments for our nation’s low to moderate income seniors. Through flexible funding options such as CRA-qualified community development loans, investments or grants, banks provide the program in senior housing facilities, HUD communities and state Veterans homes while garnering positive public relations exposure in their communities.
A Senior Crimestoppers Charter Presentation was held December 1 at Friedwald Center.
About CRA PartnersNot only do we impact the lives of the elderly in long-term care facilities, we also impact the community outside of the long-term care industry through the CRA-qualified securities we purchase on behalf of our bank partners. As of March 2016, the community impact has reached approximately $283 million which goes to provide affordable home mortgages for low-to-moderate income families, affordable healthcare services, small business development providing job creation, as well as other economic development projects. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.SHCPFoundation.orgor call 877-232-0859.