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Seniors Vs. Crime Broadens Its Mission

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By CARL ORTH

The Suncoast News

Published: September 5, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - The nonprofit Seniors vs. Crime Project until now has focused on helping elderly residents get their money back from scam artists.

Now the local Seniors vs. Crime office has begun taking complaints from anyone who thinks he or she has been victimized by crooks or shady contractors.

"What we do is paid for by the bad guys," Donald E. Ravenna, executive director of the nonprofit group, recently told Pasco County commissioners. No taxpayer dollars are used.

With cities, counties and other government agencies facing shrinking budgets, Seniors vs. Crime is helping to fill a void.

"It just tears your heart out," Ravenna said when trying to explain to someone why police can't help because it's not a crime, but a civil complaint. Officers, however, help pass out brochures for Seniors vs. Crime to let victims know how to proceed.

Ravenna described scams such as a scam artist using shoddy house paint that washes off after a week, then demanding more money to fix the problem.

The Seniors vs. Crime Project, created in 1989 by the Florida Attorney General's Office, has recovered about $6 million for victims since 2001, Ravenna said.

Even though the nonprofit group has been around almost two decades and has been profiled on television programs such as "60 Minutes," the agency remains relatively unknown, Ravenna said.

Sheriff Bob White and then-Attorney General Charlie Crist helped open the Pasco storefront in March 2006.

The Seniors vs. Crime volunteers often are called "senior sleuths." Besides taking complaints, they have turned over to authorities 409 cases for criminal prosecution.

The local office is staffed 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, Ravenna said.

Managed by Christine Ballano, the Pasco office is at 7309 State Road 54. It can be reached at (727) 834-3506 or seniorsvscrimenpr@verizon .net.

For information on Florida's Seniors vs. Crime program, go to www.seniorsvscrime.com or call 1-800-203-3099.

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