With the growth and awareness of North Star Child Advocacy Center (NSCAC) over the past five years, executive director Greg Collins wants to make sure people still understand the financial situation of the non-profit. “There are misconceptions out there that we have an abundance of money in the bank, which is not true. The money that we have been awarded is already spent, minus donations which goes into keeping the center running. We are a non-profit meaning we have no profit,” states Collins.
Probably the biggest misconception according to Collins is that the $720,000 that NSCAC was awarded last year by WVFF is money in the bank. “One of my first goals, and maybe my biggest goal as an exectutive director was to get North Star its own space so money isn’t being spent on anoffice lease, but rather our children and programs. When the WVFF money was received, as with most grants or foundations, it was only to be used on a specific venture, in this case to purchase and expand our current space. It was not only spent immediately, another $60,000 had to be attained just to complete the building purchase of $780,000,” states Collins. Collins says that the additional money needed for the purchase as well as the physical, IT, and security came in the form of $35,000 from Sisters Health Foundation, $19,740 from Parkersburg Area Community Foundation with $100,000 coming from an North Star endowment fund.
Collins says the VOCA grant situation at both the state and federal level is always precarius. “The federal grants are our biggest funding source accounting for 32% of our budget. Since the federal shutdown, we have not received a check since September of 2025. Those funds not received amount to $166,193.25,” states Collins. The State of West Virginia has come to the rescue of Child Advocacy Center’s the past several years says Collins. “They have been supplying us with level funding to make up for what has been lost during the VOCA collapse. This year, the Governor put us in their budget for the first time ever and it was supported by legislators which is amazing.” Collins states that the State of West Virginia is responsible for 19% of NSCAC’s budget.
With grants and foundations covering mostly programming, the daily operation of the center is not seen by public says Collins. “The monthly average cost for North Star over the past 12 months is $63,000. This includes payroll and benefits, utilities, program supplies, insurance, office supplies, training, and IT and accounting services among others,” states Collins. “Personnel and operational expenses are 67% and 28% of our budget respectively.”
Collins stresses the importance of donations, big and small, because of these expenses. “All of our small donations mean something big for us. It is those people that have kept us going through the lean times. Donations at this time account for 21% of our budget, up from around 8% five years ago. Its these people that are the unsung heroes for our abused children and that is a fact,” states Collins.
In concluding, Collins was asked what he hoped this information would provide to the five counties NSCAC serves. “There have been conversations where North Star has been said to be sitting on an excess of money. That is simply not the case. A local political figure was recently heard stating this misinformation which is hard to hear. People, especially people in elected positions, need to do their homework on North Star and my hope is that this information will provide the facts and transparencyto make people understand how important every $10 is to us. This isn’t a feel good non-profit organization, it is an essential service for our abused children, most of which are in a living Hell. It is an essential service that supports prosecutors, Child Protective Services and law enforcement every day. Our community is making it possible for us to be here for them all for the next 100 years,” concludes Collins
Collins states NSCAC is continuing to attempt to attain sustainable funding through their cities and counties. The City of Vienna was the first and only government entity to put NSCAC in their budgetwith Collins stating he hopes others will soon follow.
You may contact North Star at 304-917-4437 or via email nscac@northstarcac.org to learn more about how you can help or to request a tour of the facility. You may also contact the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation (PACF) to leave an endowment or a legacy gift to North Star. More information can be found at northstarcac.org.
