Grant funding of over $10 million is distributed to victim service organisations in the Lowcountry.
(WCSC) — CHARLESTON, South Carolina The Lowcountry and the rest of the state are both benefiting from increased funding for organisations that assist victims of crimes.
At the beginning of this year, the South Carolina Public Safety Coordinating Council gave its approval to a total of 40 grants worth $9,976,920 that were intended for the Lowcountry. These awards will be distributed to a total of thirty distinct local agencies, including not-for-profit organisations, police departments, sheriff’s offices, and solicitor’s offices, among others.
There are three distinct areas for the grants: the State Victim Assistance Program, the Victims of Crime Act, and the Violence Against Woman Act.
On Thursday, a meeting was held at the North Charleston City Hall with representatives from crime victim agencies and the Attorney General Alan Wilson. The purpose of the meeting was to announce how grant money will be dispersed among the groups.
One of the recipients of the grant money is Jenn Faro, who serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Barnabas Horse Foundation, which is one of the groups receiving the money. The foundation provides assistance to victims of crimes by allowing them to work with horses as part of a healthy recovery process.
“It’s astonishing the number of stories that we receive from individuals about how we’ve transformed their lives, how we saved them, or how we gave them the confidence to go on and be a healthy person in society,” said Faro. “The number of people who tell us how we’ve changed their life is amazing.” We are working to improve our community by telling its stories, one at a time.
According to Wilson, the criminal court system can be intimidating, but people who feel isolated should go to the numerous crime victim organisations that are located across the Lowcountry.
Wilson advised those who “feel as though they have no hope or no voice” to take a look around them. “The men and women standing up here representing these organisations, these nonprofit agencies, they are here to give a voice to those who do not have one, hope to those who have none, and power to those who have none,” ”
Doors to Freedom, which has been awarded a grant of $334,411 dollars, helps people who have survived sex slavery by providing them with secure places to go. Christabeth Turner, who works for Doors to Freedom, questioned one of the young women who was now residing at one of their facilities regarding their thoughts on the organisation.
“I want you to understand that Doors of Freedom is an incredible location in which to find yourself. “I want to work at Doors one day since the organisation helped me, and I would like to be able to help other survivors in the same way,” Turner said.
According to the office of the state’s attorney general, organisations across South Carolina that assist victims of crime will soon be receiving more than $32 million in grants from the federal government and the state of South Carolina. This is not limited to the Lowcountry. The remainder of the monies come from the state, while approximately 98 percent of the total comes from grants provided by the federal government.
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