. - i should point out that you are commonly called "m.t.," so that's what we're gonna call you today. - that sounds great. - all right, m.t., right after you won the award, you said you hope that this will be the beginning of the attention we need. what is the attention we need? - elder abuse has been sort of a lost issue. it has not received the priority it deserves or requires in order to advance what we know and our responses to the problem. it took a very long time to pass the elder justice act, and still there's no funding or implementation of that law, and it hasn't really been an issue that has gotten very much attention at the national level. - you've called this an epidemic, and that you can't think of any other issue affecting so many people where so little is being done. what do you mean by that? - well, i should explain. there's a lot being done in a lot of communities where people are really trying to grapple with it, because it's an issue that has an impact on millions of people nationwide, but they're reinventing the wheel again and again. families and communities and