Crime Victim Services

Heather’s Hope: A Center for Victims of Crime

The Lincoln Center also offers services specifically for people affected by crime, funded by the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) via the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD).

The Heather’s Hope program provides counseling, creative arts therapy, and case management services for children and adults age 5-100+, living in Montgomery County, who have been affected by crime in the past or present, whether the crime went reported or unreported. These confidential services are facilitated by clinical and case management staff with extensive trauma-focused training, including being certified as a Trauma Professional. Victim Services are uniquely mobile, whether that is in someone’s home, a different confidential community location, or Lincoln Center offices. Transportation related to accessing victimization services can be provided.

Clinical staff and volunteers lead support groups within specific communities and also provide information on victim’s rights, victim compensation, and the criminal justice system in general. Lincoln Center staff can assist with filing compensation claims. Victim identification presentations are conducted by staff in the community to help persons self-identify and/or to help professionals identify those who they serve.

Eligible clients include Montgomery County residents that have in the past or are currently experiencing:
  • Abuse (physical, emotional, sexual)
  • Domestic Violence
  • Harassment
  • Stalking
  • Fraud
  • Robbery/Home Invasion
  • Assault
  • Identity Theft/Scamming
  • Vehicular Crime (DUI/Hit & Run)
  • Neglect
  • Mass Violence (International & Domestic)
  • Hate Crimes
  • Any Other Crimes

If you are in need of these services, please call 610-277-3715 ext. 243

Art Therapy

Our art therapy program is free, mobile, and available to any Montgomery County resident who has been a victim of crime. Lincoln Center art therapists can travel to an agreed upon location, whether that is someone’s home, a different confidential location, or Lincoln Center offices. The goal of the service is to provide interventions that allow children, individuals, and families, to actively imagine, experiment, reframe, and rehearse desired changes through self-expression. Art therapy supports trauma recovery using neurodevelopment and mind-body best practices and fills a significant gap for those who do not respond to traditional types of therapy. Art therapy is a type of counseling with a creative, non-verbal approach that may help overcome the difficulty in verbalizing trauma and will be used to guide clients to improve personal insights and overcome the negative effects of traumatic events.

There is a strong demand in Montgomery County for effective and innovative approaches for treating trauma caused by victimization. The program will serve individuals and families experiencing trauma related to past or present events including: abuse, domestic violence, harassment, stalking, fraud, robbery, assault, identity theft/scamming, vehicular crime, mass violence, and other crimes. Our art therapists have their master of arts in art therapy, are registered and board-certified with the Art Therapy Credentials Board, and have taken extensive trainings in trauma-informed practices to become certified clinical trauma professionals (CCTP).