Lowcountry agencies receive crime victim assistance funding

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said some Lowcountry organizations have received funding from the state’s Department of Crime Victim Assistance grant, part of a larger $29 million fund.

“When a person is the victim of a crime, that’s not the end of the victimization,” Wilson said.

More than $9.2 million in funding is going to 30 agencies throughout the Lowcountry, from Beaufort County up the coast to Horry County. There were 39 grants given in total.

Beaufort County was awarded five grants; Berkeley County was given one to the sheriff’s office. As for Charleston County, it had the most, with 17 grants. Dorchester County was awarded three grants, and Georgetown County was awarded two grants. Hampton County was also awarded one grant to the sheriff’s office. Horry County received 10 grants overall.

One nonprofit, Hopeful Horizons, will receive the most funding, more than $1.2 million, coming from two of the four grant programs: the Victim of Crime Act and the Violence Against Women Act.

“Each year Hopeful Horizons assists more than 1,300 or 1,400 victims and survivors just in our Lowcountry region. So, child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault happen more than people know and more than people want to talk about it,” Kristin Dubrowski, CEO of Hopeful Horizons, said.

Dubrowski said this funding is crucial to continue the organization’s mission: protect, treat and prevent.

“If we did not receive this funding, we would not be able to provide all of the services and support to the community that we’re able to do free of charge,” Dubrowski said.

Wilson said the funding has increased following a decline from 2018 to 2024, when he said federal funding dropped about 76% from a high of $52 million.

“That is why it’s so important to keep them adequately funded so we can provide these medical services or these domestic violence shelters or human trafficking shelters or children’s shelters or the services that children might need as they’re going through the criminal justice system,” Wilson said.

Through this funding, victims of crimes have access to medical needs, mental health services and other resources.