Who is the Center for At-Risk Elders?

H. Kennard Bennett started CARE in 2010 after almost thirty years in the practice of elder law, working with families trying to protect and care for the needs of loved ones. Too often he encountered elders who had no family to help and wondered what would become of them. Too often he saw elders suffering from poor care in nursing homes and wondered what could be done to change things. Too often he could see the frustration in the eyes of care providers, families, and advocates alike who all knew there had to be a better way and wondered how he could harness that good will to make a difference. Ken began providing pro bono services to families seeking to become guardian for a loved one.

He began a practice of pursuing tort actions against nursing homes to hold them accountable for poor care, hoping that the accumulation of such cases would begin to make a change. Ken also joined advocacy groups in an effort to change public policy and improve the care and services available to Indiana’s frail elderly and disabled. Yet he still imagined a more effective approach - harness the legal horsepower of a law firm but with a commitment to public good not billable hours.

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Community leaders and visionaries Mary Austrom, Robyn Grant, Susan (Gabovitch) Hinshaw, and Fran Quigley eagerly agreed to serve as the Founding Board of Directors of the Center for At-Risk Elders, Inc. On October 1, 2010, incorporation papers were filed and CARE was launched.

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As the saying goes, the rest is history. Since those early days, the organization has grown to serve more than 900 unbefriended men and women.