As the executive director of VOICe, I’m urging Gov. Josh Shapiro to prioritize funding for sexual assault services by including Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect in the state budget.

Across Pennsylvania, rape crisis centers like ours are facing the devastating reality of losing staff, cutting critical services, and turning survivors away — not because the need isn’t there, but because the funding isn’t.

The organizations that support survivors, especially child survivors, are stretched past their breaking point. There are children right now who are being told they have to wait months for therapy and whose forensic exams are delayed because there aren’t enough trained professionals.

These services are not optional. They are essential lifelines for men, women, and children who have experienced sexual violence.

Without state support, survivors in our communities will be left without access to trauma counseling, medical advocacy, legal support, and prevention education. Many of these organizations are facing cuts so severe they may be forced to close their doors.

Let me be clear: If these services disappear, there is no one else doing this work. If the rape crisis center shuts down, if the child advocacy programs disappear, if the trauma therapists are laid off — survivors will have nothing. No hotline to call. No trained counselor. No medical care. No legal advocacy. Just silence

We need Gov. Shapiro to act now. Survivors can’t afford to wait.

— Tracy Veri, executive director, VOICe