Bogalusa resident Fate Ferrell recently told the Bogalusa City Council something needs to be done to protect senior citizens.

Ferrell later told the Daily News he had a personal experience that led him to discover the difficulty of getting help even after the fact.

He did not want to go into details because the case is still in process, but it does involve someone taking advantage of a senior citizen with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ferrell is not related to the victim but jumped in to try to help a neighbor, he said.

“I ran into situation where a senior citizen needed help,” he said. “I had to just figure what to do. It was hard. Believe me it was hard. I scrambled my brains day and night. I was up at 3 a.m. thinking about it. It was eating me alive. I kept at it and got it going in the right direction, but most people would have given up.

“I feel we need to get something going. I think need to get something in place for seniors who are having problems, maybe a hot line.”

Ferrell said he tried going through the Bogalusa Senior Center and Police Department and the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office, where he did get some assistance from Capt. Tommie Sorrell. But it was Elder Protection out of Baton Rouge that “really went to work on it.”

Currently, the case is progressing, but it wasn’t easy for him to make that happen. He said he knows it would be even more difficult for a senior citizen to try to navigate the system and impossible for one with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

Ferrell said he wants to be an agent of positive change, and he feels his is a much-needed project.

He’s willing to work, and he asks any individual or agency that shares his interest to call him at 735-8009.

“I want people to be able to get help,” Ferrell said. “We need to get something in place.”