Victim Services Center of Montgomery County promotes awareness with billboard campaign

NORRISTOWN — Advocates dedicated to offering support and counseling services to crime victims in Montgomery County launched a billboard campaign as part of a community awareness project when National Crime Victims’ Rights Week kicked off on Sunday.

“Our National Crime Victims’ Rights Week billboard campaign is more than just awareness, it’s a lifeline,” Erin Milbourne, direct services supervisor for the Victim Services Center of Montgomery County, said on Monday. “Every survivor deserves support and this is a powerful reminder that help is here. Our free, confidential services are just a call away because no one should navigate the aftermath of crime alone.”

The billboard messages began appearing Monday morning at three locations: Germantown Pike and Route 202 northbound; the Pennsylvania Turnpike exit 333 for Norristown; and at Main and Markley streets in Norristown. The digital message boards include English and Spanish versions that provide the organization’s web address and 24-hour hotline number.

The nonprofit organization received funding for the billboard campaign from the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime within the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice.

The organization was one of 98 community projects selected for funding by the Office for Victims of Crime from the 115 applications that were submitted nationwide.

Milbourne said federal support for the billboard campaign “will help us help crime victims by letting them know we are here and ready to help.”

Even though the nonprofit organization is celebrating its 50th year of advocacy, empowerment and healing for crime victims, Milbourne said there are still people in the community who do not know about the organization’s free services.

“I definitely come across people every day that until something happens to them, they’ll say to me, ‘I never heard of you or I didn’t know you existed,’” Milbourne said during an interview from her Norristown office. “So often, people will find us at their worst day and our hope is that people are aware of this resource ahead of that time.”

Milbourne said residents who move to communities in Montgomery County usually know where their police and fire departments and hospitals are even if they don’t use them.

“We want to be one of those because we provide critical crisis support. We want people to know that we are here,” said Milbourne, explaining most victims learn about the organization’s services from police, the district attorney’s office, through word of mouth or hospital officials.

Milbourne said the organization served more than 2,300 clients during 2024.

The nonprofit organization, founded in 1975, provides advocacy and counseling for all who have been affected by sexual violence and other crimes. Advocates accompany victims to court, police stations and hospitals, assist with victim impact statements and victim notification programs. Counselors are available for survivors and their family and friends.

“We provide free therapy services for anyone impacted by crime. They can get trauma-specific treatment that a lot of times people wouldn’t get due to barriers of language, barriers of finances and barriers of transportation,” Milbourne said.

The organization also promotes sensitivity and awareness in the community through education, including violence and abuse prevention and personal safety programs.

“We have a really robust education department,” said Milbourne, explaining advocates are in the community providing prevention information. “They are out there getting ahead of it, providing education about how to prevent crime.”

The organization also provides a 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-888-521-0983.

For more information about or to donate to the organization, residents can visit the website at www.victimservicescenter.org

First designated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week increases general public awareness of, and knowledge about the wide range of rights and services available to people who have been victimized by crime. The theme for 2025 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is “Kinship, Connecting and Healing.”

For information about national efforts to promote the 2025 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, visit the Office for Victims of Crime website at www.ovc.gov

The National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators is a nonprofit organization that represents the 56 state agencies that distribute money from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Crime Victims Fund to more than 4,000 direct victim assistance service providers. The money in the Crime Victims Fund comes from fines collected from offenders convicted of federal crimes and not from U.S. taxpayers.