Expanding services for crime victims and promoting mental health
That is what several Centre County organizations are focusing on after receiving nearly two million dollars in grant funding
Our Zac Kaye talked with one of them about what they will be using the funding for he joins us live now Zac what did they tell you?
Several Centre County organizations are focused on expanding services for crime victims and promoting mental health after receiving nearly $2 million in grant funding last week.
The money will be split between different organizations, including mental health advocacy groups, and those that work with the criminal justice system. One of them, the Jana Marie Foundation, says they will use the nearly $75,000 to help train others.
According to State Rep. Scott Conklin, the Jana Marie Foundation, along with Centre Safe, Penn State University, and the Centre County Government, will all be receiving funds from the state’s Commission for Crime and Delinquency. He says the money will be used for things such as jail-based drug treatment programs, and help bolster crime prevention.
The funding includes:
$750,000 to Pennsylvania State University for oversight/administration of the 2025 and 2027 Pennsylvania Youth Surveys.
$577,197 to Centre Safe to expand services for survivors of sexual or domestic violence.
$220,833 to the Centre County Commissioners for the Public Defender Caseworker Program.
$130,625 to Pennsylvania State University for maintenance of the 2024-25 PA Victim Services Training website that trains professionals who work with survivors.
$125,000 to the Centre County Commissioners for the Centre County STOP Violence Against Women program.
$93,844 to the Centre County Commissioners to expand the jail-based Vivitrol drug treatment program.
$73,811 to the Jana Marie Foundation for Reducing Access to Lethal Means services.
The founder of the Jana Marie Foundation Marisa Vicere says they focus on promoting mental health and well-being, especially for young people in the community. She says the grant money will allow them to offer a new training program (Reducing Access to Lethal Means) that focuses on reducing access to dangerous weapons and also offer more mental health first aid courses.
“We’ll be able to offer that training to our partners, and to other professionals in the community, making it easier to talk about gun safety and ways that we can really think about our environment and making sure that it is safe for all,”
She says having these tough conversations about mental health is extremely important.
“Mental health first aid is a skills-based training that really looks at what adults or young people might be facing in our community, and also ways that we can engage in courageous conversations, We’re human, and so it might not be perfect every time but by increasing our comfort by having more of these conversations, we can let people know that they’re not alone in the challenges that they’re facing, and we can be there to help them get connected to different supports that are available in our community,”
She says that anyone who is struggling or knows someone struggling with mental health should reach out to them, or call the 988 hotline that is available 24/7.
