September 30, 2026

By Darcy Fargo
Editor

After years of education and living outside the area pursuing her love of opera singing, Dr. Kasey Stewart said God lead her to her current role as Elder Abuse Enhanced-Multidisciplinary Team (E-MDT) coordinator for the North Country Hub, a role she holds with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

Dr. Stewart was honored for her efforts to aid elderly victims of abuse and those who support them when she received the Coordinator Excellence Award from Lifespan of Greater Rochester, the entity who coordinates the E-MDT program on behalf of the state,

Dr. Stewart said the E-MDTs are multidisciplinary teams “made up of professionals with the knowledge and skills to promptly address any situation that might arise when assisting an elder experiencing financial exploitation or other forms of abuse.”

New York state, through Lifespan of Greater Rochester, operates E-MDT hubs throughout New York State, and each hub connects county-level teams. The North Country hub coordinated by Dr. Stewart serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

The teams in those counties are made up of individuals who have direct experience aiding abuse victims and supporting vulnerable populations, including representatives of Office for the Aging, Adult Protective Services, law enforcement, medical representatives, financial institutions, charity/social services organizations and others.

“I don’t do direct services,” Dr. Stewart said. “I’m too emotional, and I’m neurodivergent. I could never do some of these jobs. I could never do adult protective services or work, for example. But I can help by helping the helpers. That’s what I’m doing.”

Dr. Stewart said she felt “humbled” winning the award at Lifespan’s 10-year celebration of the E-MDT program, a program funded in part by New York State Office for the Aging, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Victims of Crime, New York State Office of Victim Services and Lifespan of Greater Rochester.

“I was excited, but I was also embarrassed in a way,” she said. “I don’t think it’s me. It’s the people of the North Country who are on these teams and who really care and do good works. My job is to make people feel good about the good works they’re doing. My job is to make it easier for them to do the good works they’re doing. I’m just an organized person who does well with details. Not everyone has that strength. I can take a whole bunch of disconnected information and distill it down into a very accessible packet of information tailored to the individual who receives it, people who already have large caseloads and lots of information to go through. I try to make their jobs more doable. After I won this award, I told the teams I work with, and I mean it sincerely, that this is their award as much as it’s mine.”

The teams receive referrals of individuals in need of assistance through referring professionals.

“We take referrals from a broad variety of professionals, but the professional has to be willing to be the client,” Dr. Stewart said. “We don’t want to put all the onus on the victim. I might be able to give you all things you can do to get out of situation, but you might not have the physical, emotional, mental strength to d it by yourself. Having the referring professional as an advocate helps. Anyone who comes to the team already has one person in their corner who can help. The team presents a variety of recommendations and options to the referring professional, and they work with the alleged victim.”

The E-MDT teams can help victims and alleged victims access forensic accounting reviews, medical reviews and legal services and help address issues leading to problems and to appropriate resolve cases.

“In seven years, we’ve helped over 5,500 alleged victims, and those survivors have received approximately $750,000 in restitution over the years,” Dr. Stewart said. “We’ve had two arrests – one leading to incarceration and one leading to probation. I know the arrest numbers seem low, but oftentimes, when people are being taken advantage of financially, it’s by people they know, people they trust, people they love. They often don’t want law enforcement involved. They want the behavior to stop, they may want restitution, and they may just want someone to listen to them and show them they care. Some of the most beautiful ‘thank you’ messages received by our teams have been from folks who got little to no money back but the behavior stopped, and they were happy someone cared, someone listened and someone tried to help.”

Dr. Stewart said she’s found the work with E-MDT to be extremely fulfilling, and she feels God lead her to this way of serving God and the people of God.

“I’m from the North Country,” she said. “I was born in Plattsburgh. I went away for 29 years. After I got my doctorate in 2019, I knew my parents were getting older, and I said I’d come home if I could get a job where I felt I could make an impact. My mom actually saw the job advertised. Soon after, my cousin’s child was getting baptized, and I was the godmother. The priest was (now Catholic Charities Executive Director) Father Scott Seymour… During the luncheon after the baptism, my mom said to him, “tell me about the Catholic Charities position.” I was really embarrassed.”

The position interested her, though.

“In opera, a whole bunch of people with different goals and different jobs who all think their goals and jobs are the most important are working together to create something,” Dr. Stewart said. “This is similar in that sense. I never thought this would be something I’d do, though. Apparently, there’s Kasey’s plan and God’s plan. God’s plan is so much better than anything I could’ve come up with on my own. And working here has strengthened my relationship with God and helped me trust that as long as I’m trying to be God’s hands in the world and give more than I take, I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I don’t think I could ever go back into academia and music. I needed something to fill a God-sized hole, and I tried to fill it for years by being a musician and singing. But this is where I’m supposed to be. I’m grateful.”