North Star Child Advocacy Center (NSCAC) has been notified by the City of Vienna that it would again be including the center in the budget for an amount of $16,500.00, more than was asked for in budget hearings. Of the 21 child advocacy centers in West Virginia, nine (9) are receiving county funding and three (3) other centers are receiving municipal funding.
North Star is the largest and often busiest child advocacy center in the state, with this being the second time they have been included in the City of Vienna’s budget. “Being included in a budget means we can plan farther out than one year. Our goal is to put services in place that are crucial to our youth. There are urgent needs, not aesthetic needs, and we must find a way to fund those services,” states Greg Collins, executive director of NSCAC.
Collins states that the City of Vienna is the only local government to put them in the budget. “I am having conversations with Parkersburg City Council president Andrew Borkowski about how they can also help North Star. A recent conversation with Calhoun County Commissioner Eric Lupardus was highly successful as well with some funding to support North Star possible soon,” states Collins.“We have a few people in our local and state governments in the five counties we serve that are all about what we are doing for their abused children, their law enforcement and CPS. They are approaching me and asking the right questions, serious about supporting our mission, not just uttering political default statements. This is a blessing,” states Collins.
In the calendar year 2025, 70% percent of the children North Star saw from their five-county service area were kids from Wood County. 41% were from Parkersburg. 52% were from areas outside of any city limit in Wood County. 6% were from Vienna, for a total of 24 children.
Collins concludes, “My genuine thanks to the City of Vienna, mayor, and council members. At the end of the day, these are our abused kids that we are seeing. Not the federal governments or the state’s, they’re ours. his is worse than anyone knows, I guarantee. If we don’t successfully intervene, many of these children will be the next generation of adult problems that we are trying to fix. The City of Vienna is lucky to have a group like this representing them, taking care of their children.”
People can contact North Star at 304-917-4437 or via email nscac@northstarcac.org to learn more about how you can help. You can also visit them at northstarcac.org or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. People wanting to contribute an afterlife donation can contact the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) to leave an endowment or a legacy gift.
