Wall, Robidart receive county's Volunteer of the Month award

At the February 1 meeting of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, Robert Wall and Gabe Robidart were honored with the county’s Volunteer of the Month award.

Wall and Robidart are members of the Sheriff’s Department Senior Volunteer Patrol and have been involved in the development and administration of the Senior Volunteer Elder Abuse Prevention Program in Fallbrook.Robidart continues to work with the Fallbrook program while volunteer Dick Ries has taken over the Fallbrook portion for Wall, who is now promoting the four-year-old program in other communities.

“These guys are wonderful.It’s incredible what they’ve done for elder abuse prevention, and the program they’ve got going, it’s just awesome,” said Lt. Clyde Kodadek, the commander of the Sheriff’s Department’s Fallbrook Substation.“They do a wonderful job.”

The program began in July 2000 after Wall contacted Julie Sutton, the volunteer coordinator for the Sheriff’s Department, with regard to the situation of elder abuse.“He had an idea of starting a program,” Sutton said.“He contacted me with the idea.”

Sutton provided additional guidance, and since its inception the Fallbrook/Bonsall/DeLuz area has seen more than 500 cases and more than 1,000 follow-ups.

“I’m just so proud of them,” Sutton said.“It’s a great program, and what they’ve done for the community is just immeasurable.”

The program interfaces with other agencies besides the Sheriff’s Department, including

Protective Services and the county’s Health and Human Services Agency.The Senior Volunteer Patrol’s You Are Not Alone (YANA) program has also been integrated into the elder abuse prevention program.

“It’s well laid-out.The whole program, it just fills this void for helping people get the right resources,” Kodadek said.“When it comes to elder abuse, this is cutting edge.”

The program is designed to be a liaison between

Protective Services and law enforcement.“It’s the bridge between them,” said Manny Ortega, the coordinator of Fallbrook’s Senior Volunteer Patrol.

“Creates a great chain of communication, that’s what it does,” Wall said.

Wall has provided training for programs now in effect in Ramona and Santee.In late January, Wall gave a presentation in La Mesa (which has its own police department and does not contract with the Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement services), and Wall will follow up on that presentation in the future.Wall will also be working on an Encinitas program.

“These guys have really done a terrific job,” Ries said.

The Fallbrook program also earned Wall and Robidart a nomination last year for the Crime Prevention Volunteers of the Year Award.

“Robert Wall and Gabe Robidart were instrumental in the development and administration of the Senior Volunteer Elder Abuse Prevention Program in the Fallbrook Community,” Supervisor Bill Horn said during his presentation.“Their thousands of hours and hundreds of senior citizen contacts have created an invaluable program.”

During the award presentation, Wall and Robidart were joined by Sutton, Kodadek, Undersheriff Barry Zuniga, and assistant Sheriff Bill Gore.“Very proud to have it,” Wall said of his award.

Robidart noted that his work on the program which led to the award has produced satisfying results.He also noted the volume of cases handled by the program.“It never runs dry,” he said.“We’re just hanging in there.”