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Longtime advocate for seniors and the disabled retires
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: September 8, 2016
Being evicted from one home’s can be a traumatizing event at any age, but when the person is elderly and in poor health, the situation can be even more devastating.
Elder law attorney Joseph W. Gibson has spent years assisting seniors facing eviction from nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
“A nursing home or assisted living facility may not be what the average person considers a home, but when a person has been in a facility for a long time and knows the staff and is comfortable being forced to suddenly leave can be extremely difficult,” said Gibson, who retired from Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities on July 15 just over 22 years as an ombudsman/legal specialist.
“Sometimes the evictions were started because the clients could not pay but other times the facilities wanted the seniors out because they said they could not meet their care needs. From what I observed, it was often that they did not want to meet those needs.”
Direction Home Akron Canton was created as a result of the Older Americans Act (OAA). Passed by Congress in 1965, the OAA is designed to provide and coordinate services ranging from meal to in-home programs and legal help for older people who are not adequately assisted by other public and private systems.
Ohio’s Office of the State Long-term Care Ombudsman authorizes Direction Home’s elder rights division to advocate for people who receive home care along with those who reside in an assisted living facility or a nursing home.
As an ombudsman/legal specialist Gibson represented nursing home and assisted living residents, at risk of being evicted or transferred from their homes, in administrative hearings. Additionally, Gibson advised and helped consumers who were denied access to services or benefits.
“I won most of my hearings, which allowed the client to remain in the facility where he/she was most comfortable,” said Gibson. “Most of these people did not have any money to hire an attorney to defend themselves so it was very rewarding to help them.”
Sam McCoy, vice president of elder rights at Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging & Disabilities, said Gibson was “passionate about protecting the rights of his clients.
“He was very empathetic and quite skilled as an attorney and advocate,” said McCoy, who directly supervised Gibson’s work.
Born and raised in Mount Jackson, Pennsylvania, Gibson received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with a major in comprehensive social studies from Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.
He was accepted to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, but decided to apply to The University of Akron School of Law instead.
“My dad was disabled and I planned to work my way through school,” said Gibson. “Pittsburgh was a big, expensive city and I had a great-uncle who was acting dean at Kent State University, who suggested I try Akron Law. I got a scholarship which covered the out of state differential.”
In law school, he took on a variety of jobs during the summers ranging from doing paint and cement work on highways to having his own paint contracting business.
“My first wife, who I married while in law school, also started a print company so I worked there during my off hours as well,” he said.
After receiving his juris doctor from Akron Law, Gibson passed the bar in Ohio in 1972 and in Florida the following year. He began his career at a small firm, Belden & Eastman, that later merged with other small firms to become Hershey and Brown.
“In the beginning I handled a lot of insurance defense,” said Gibson, who became a partner. “Later I did a lot of specialty work defending police departments in federal court.”
But after 22 years in private practice, he decided to alter directions, starting a new career at what was then called Area Agency on Aging 10B. Gibson had been a board member there for several years and said he believed working for the agency would be an opportunity “to do more good for more people.”
“I worked with Joe on the board before he took the job here,” said McCoy. “During his years at the agency his reputation for winning his cases spread, prompting many opponents to willingly negotiate an outcome allowing his clients to remain in the home of their choice.
He was very well respected by nursing home attorneys, administrators and others. He took his job very seriously and treated his clients like any other person facing eviction.”
In the short term, McCoy said Direction Home is evaluating the role of the ombudsman/legal specialist with the overall goal of “assuring that the rights of all consumers continue to be effectively protected.”
In addition to his legal work Gibson taught defensive driving classes at the Red Cross on Saturdays for the Accident Prevention Association for 25 years.
He lives in West Akron with his wife of 40 years, Suzanne.
She describes Gibson as “kind and a man of great integrity.
“He’s very committed to whatever he decides to do,” said Suzanne. “He wanted to have an impact on people’s lives directly and so he joined the team at the Area Agency.
“For 12 years I shared in senior advocacy, caring for three senior women without local families, transitioning them from home to facilities through death. I was able to draw on his expertise as an ombudsman/legal specialist, which helped me immensely.”
While he enjoyed his work at Direction Home Akron Canton, Gibson, 69, said it was time to move on.
“In 2014 I had a stroke,” said Gibson. “I was able to go back to work but the stroke did make some things more difficult and there comes a time when one should do something other than work full time.”
One of the ways that he fills his days is through his continued involvement with West Akron Kiwanis, a local arm of the global volunteer organization that aims to improve children’s lives and communities.
Gibson, who did two stints as president, is working with others to raise money for the Akron Youth Symphony and to support a project aimed at “greening” the city.
He currently serves as an elder and chancel assistant in his church, The Vine Fellowship in Copley, formerly known as Akron First Presbyterian Church.
A former trustee at the Akron Bar Association from 2007 through 2009, Gibson is a member of the Akron Bar Association’s unauthorized practice of law committee and the estate planning, probate and elder law section. He previously served as chair of the grievance, scholarship and senior life committees.
Gibson also belongs to the Stark County Bar Association’s elder law and law day committees, the Ohio State Bar Association’s elder law committee, The Florida Bar and is a longtime member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
He’s also a former president and trustee at Hope Homes Inc., which assists adults with developmental disabilities and special needs; a former trustee and legal counsel for the Community Hall Foundation (DBA Akron Civic Theatre) and an officer and former trustee of the Akron Legal News during the time it was owned by the Akron Bar Association.
Over the years, he’s discussed long-term care issues and provided legal training at organizations like the Akron and Stark County bar associations as well as the Summit County Elder Abuse Prevention Coalition.
In 2008 he received the Senior Advocate Award from the Summit County Elder Abuse Prevention Coalition.
In addition to continuing his existing volunteer activities, Gibson said he plans to spend his free time playing a lot of golf and searching out “worthwhile things to do.”