COLUMBIA, S.C. — Pathways to Healing is just one of several victims' services organizations in the Palmetto State receiving new grant money.
According to the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, $26 million in state and federal funds will go to groups that help crime victims in South Carolina.
Pathways to Healing, a rape crisis center, said they would get about $770,000.
The organization said this money will fund staff salaries, their crisis programming, which includes hospital accompaniments, 24/7 hotline access for victims of sexual assault, and resources for victims' families.
Other funding includes the South Carolina Department of Public Health, foundation money, individual contributions and money from fundraising events.
Even though Pathways to Healing is working with a nearly $400,000 deficit because of cuts to Federal Victims of Crime Act funding, the organization said it's still very thankful for this money.
"We have seen a decline recently in the past probably five to 10 years," said Executive Director Rebecca Lorick. "We've seen a decline in prosecution of white collar crimes, which means that that fund actually decreases as well."
Lorick said she hopes the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fix stabilizes money going into the federal budget, but she said it's taking time to catch up to the dollars lost in the past. The non-profit said it serves about 2,000 people each year.
"At the completion of services at Pathways to Healing, typically, we see less of a trauma response," Lorick said. "So, we see better functioning; we see people who are able to sleep better, able to eat better, able to cope with their triggers better just because we’re educating people about the tools that we have that we can help them with."
The South Carolina Attorney General's office said the Clarendon County Sheriff's Office also received an award of over $45,000 to support a criminal domestic violence investigator.
Pathways to Healing will host an awareness and fundraising campaign called "12 Days of Hope" on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3. Lorick said each day, the organization will feature survivor stories in a book to explain what victims they help have gone through. Folks will be able to donate on their social media pages and website.