Comfort Keepers to pair police officers with elderly residents

By ELISE FRANCO

LIBERTY— It was standing room only at the trustees’ meeting, as close to 100 residents showed up to listen and speak about the death of Mary Rush.

After a moment of silence Monday night for Rush, the trustees introduced Dave and Carol Mirkin, co-owners of Comfort Keepers, and Nina Clayman, instructor at Youngstown State University and president of the mental health board of Trumbull County.

Comfort Keepers is a senior citizen assistance program that Mirkin and his wife developed in Mahoning County.

“Tragedies like the one in Liberty Township can’t always be avoided,” he said. “We need to limit exposure to the things that can cause it, and the key to that is education.”

Rush, 87, of Mansell Drive, was found on her front porch, unconscious with severe cuts, just after 7 a.m. April 28. The porch area was covered in blood, and a large rock was found by a nearby broken window.

Her leg was broken and caught in the railing leading to the porch. Township police have since determined that Rush locked herself out and was cut trying to gain entry to the house.

Police checked the area by car twice in the early hours when Rush likely would have been outside, after a neighbor complained of someone crying out outside — but they did not find her.

Comfort Keepers assigns police officers to senior citizens within the community. They stop in each day to say hello and make sure everything is running smoothly within the home.

“The training program was approved by the attorney general’s office, so it doesn’t cost any extra money,” Mirkin said. “Deputies go out during their normal hours, and they’re trained to look for certain signs that something is wrong.”

He said some of the things officers look for are messes, whether the resident has food in the house and if that food is spoiled, and whether the resident seems confused or disoriented.

“The program has been successful in Mahoning County,” Mirkin said. “We served 100 people Thanksgiving dinner last year. We get them to doctor’s appointments and make sure their houses are clean.

“It’s possible that if Mary Rush had this service available to her, she would have been saved.”

Carol Mirkin said the program’s goal is to educate the police force and the community about caring for the elderly.

“This program provides a positive relationship between law enforcement and the elderly,” she said. “And more importantly, it’s designed to help keep seniors in their homes for as long as possible.”

Trustee Jodi Stoyak said the Mirkins and Clayman, all involved in the project, live in Liberty, and because of that, they all have a commitment to making sure what happened to Rush doesn’t happen to anyone else.

Trustee W. Gary Litch said he wants to get the program started as soon as possible. Stoyak then read a letter from the law director stating that no township officials or employees were to comment on the Rush case until the review has been completed. This meant that although those in attendance could address the board and comment on the situation, no questions could be answered.

Resident Lou Pizzuto said he was disappointed to hear that none of the people in attendance would receive any answers.

“You read us that letter, and everyone knows that we are here tonight to hear what has happened up until this point,” he said.

Mary Lou Griffith, who commented on the death of her neighbor the day after it happened, said the way Rush has been portrayed by the press is incorrect.

“Yes, Mary had dementia, but she had her wits about her 75 percent of the time,” she said. “She didn’t go wandering around the neighborhood. I just want to defend her because reports made it so much worse than it really was.”

Rebekah Huston, who made both calls to the police, addressed neighbors who had previously commented about poor police response.

“I just wanted to say that 911 didn’t let us down that night,” she said, “They responded. The system worked. They were there.”

Visibly upset, Huston said if she’d known it was Rush outside, she would have immediately gone out to help her.

Stoyak said all the trustees, administration and staff were very upset by Rush’s death, which is why an internal investigation is being conducted.

“As soon as the investigation is complete, the public will be [made] aware of the details,” she said. “And we are on board with the [Comfort Keepers] program so this never happens again.”

efranco@vindy.com