HARRISBURG, Pa. — For more than three months, all 47 rape crisis centers in Pennsylvania have gone without critical funding, as the state budget impasse reaches its 108th day, a very real crisis for these centers themselves.
“Every day this budget remains unfinished, survivors pay the price,” said Yolanda Edrington, CEO of Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect.
Survivors, advocates, and even legislators themselves gathered outside the City-County building Thursday morning, calling for swift action in Harrisburg.
“To the Governor and the legislature, I say this: do your jobs. Do your jobs,” said Megan McConahy, executive director of AWARE in Mercer County.
Many rape crisis centers have had to max out credit cards or take out loans to keep their doors open.
“I was forced to move my entire staff to part-time, just to meet payroll,” McConahy said.
That means fewer people answering 24/7 helplines and fewer advocates in hospitals, sitting beside survivors in their most vulnerable moments. Maria Gardner was assaulted in 2021 along the Allegheny River Trail when she was 10 weeks pregnant.
“I am so grateful to my advocate and everything she has done to support me, including standing by me here today. Her name is Adrienne, and everyone deserves to have someone like her in their corner,” Gardner said. “Not all of us make it, and without our state’s rape crisis centers, more of us won’t.”
“There’s no end in sight unless we stand together and do something about it,” said Audra Mitchell, board president of Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR).
PAAR has been open since 1972, the only center of its kind in Allegheny County.
Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW