As we begin a new year, we want to start with gratitude. The generosity of this community during NOVA’s holiday campaign was extraordinary. Your financial contributions sustain NOVA’s critical services, ensuring survivors of violence have access to advocacy, counseling, prevention education, and support throughout the year. At the same time, donations of gift cards provided direct, meaningful assistance to families we serve who were in need, offering practical support and a sense of care during the holiday season.

January is also Human Trafficking Prevention Month, an important time to raise awareness and strengthen prevention efforts here in Bucks County. This month, we are proud to spotlight the Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking (BCAT) and one of its dedicated members, Woody, whose commitment reflects the power of collaboration in addressing human trafficking.

Thank you for standing with NOVA and for being a community that leads with compassion, action, and generosity.

The Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking (BCAT)

More than two decades ago, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) was signed into law, marking a major step forward in the United States’ commitment to addressing and preventing human trafficking. Since 2010, January has been recognized as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month—a time dedicated to raising awareness, educating communities, and encouraging action to help prevent this crime.

As part of this month of learning and advocacy, we’re choosing to highlight the work of the Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking (BCAT), a project of NOVA. Founded in 2013 in response to increasing trafficking cases in our county, BCAT has spent more than a decade educating the community, advocating for survivor-centered legislation, and supporting coordinated responses for those impacted.

While January shines a national spotlight on this issue, BCAT’s work continues all year long. From prevention education to survivor services, BCAT remains committed every day to its mission of eradicating human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Bucks County. But this work is bigger than any one organization, or any one month. Your voice, your skills, and your commitment help make support visible, accessible, and effective.

Throughout January, BCAT will be offering several awareness opportunities, and we invite you to join us in learning, supporting, and taking action. Together, we can strengthen our community and help prevent individuals from ever needing these services.

Click here to learn more about how you can get involved.

Understanding Human Trafficking: Risks, Indicators, and Local Impact

Human trafficking is a serious yet chronically underreported crime that occurs across the world, throughout the United States, and even within Bucks County. Under the law, human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of commercial sex acts or labor, when induced by force, fraud, or coercion.

Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking. However, certain populations may be more vulnerable to exploitation or trafficking, including:

Individuals or children experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity
Children and youth living in foster care
Individuals who identify as LGBTQ+
People of color
Individuals with a history of physical or sexual abuse
Individuals experiencing financial insecurity or poverty
Refugees or undocumented individuals
Migrant workers
People living with addiction
Children, youth, and adults living with intellectual disabilities or mental illness

In addition to understanding which populations may be at greater risk, it is also important to recognize indicators of human trafficking. Everyone has the potential to encounter a trafficking situation. Victims may be present in everyday settings such as construction sites, restaurants, elder care centers, nail salons, agricultural fields, and hotels. Traffickers use a range of tactics to maintain control over their victims, including physical violence or threats of violence, manipulation, threats against loved ones, and false promises of employment or opportunity.

Understanding the indicators of trafficking can help individuals feel more confident identifying potential situations and making a report when something seems wrong. While this is not an exhaustive list, there are several key red flags that may signal a trafficking situation. Click here to learn more.

Human trafficking is not a distant issue. Both sex trafficking and labor trafficking occur here in Bucks County. In 2025, NOVA assisted more than 75 victims of sexual or labor trafficking within our community.

If you know someone who may be experiencing human trafficking or exploitation, NOVA is here to help. Our 24-hour helpline is always available at 1-800-675-6900.

Robert "Woody" Wood, BCAT Member

Can you give a brief description of your role with NOVA?

I am a member of the Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking, with a focus on BCAT's Steering, Victim Focus, and Community Outreach subcommittees.

How long have you been involved with BCAT?

12 years and 8 months.

What is your favorite part about working with BCAT?

My favorite part of working with BCAT is the compassion and dedication shared among my fellow BCAT members across all of our subcommittees. I’m also continually inspired by the opportunity to partner with survivors and learn from their lived experience. Together, we work to raise awareness, deepen understanding, and ultimately help prevent trafficking in our community.

How do you support NOVA's mission in your role?

As the Street Outreach Coordinator for the Valley Youth House Synergy Project, I support NOVA’s mission by working directly with homeless youth and families in Bucks County. Many of the people I serve are vulnerable to exploitation, so connecting them with resources, support, and information about NOVA and BCAT helps keep them safer and more informed.

What is one thing people should know about BCAT?

The Bucks Coalition Against Trafficking is a firecracker group of people that have a passion to stop human trafficking, work alongside survivors, and are modern day abolitionists. I am really privileged to be working with such a fine group of people in BCAT

We appreciate your dedication to serving victims of crime!

Gala Game Night - A Gala Benefiting NOVA

April 17, 2026

Save the Date for NOVA's 2026 Fundraising Gala: Gala Game Night! Join us on the evening of Friday, April 17, 2026 at The Warrington for a tremendous night of fun, food, and impact to support NOVA. Enjoy an open beer & wine bar, trivia, a silent auction, a four-course dinner, and a show-stopping game show finale with surprise pre-selected contestants—all for a great cause.

Learn more about the event, tickets, and sponsorship opportunities at novabucks.org/gala26.

Upcoming Closures

The NOVA offices will be closed on Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

NOVA Thrift Shop will be closed on Sunday, January 11th due to the NTS Staff Holiday Party.

Try the NOVA RX Savings Card!

NOVA has partnered with WellSync to provide essential medications at discounted rates, all while benefiting NOVA. Every time you use your card, NOVA receives a $2 donation at no cost to you. Make a difference with each medication purchase!

Click the image to the right to access and download your printable card.

Print this page and cut out the RX Savings Card along the dotted line. Take your card to any of the 35,000 participating pharmacies. Present your card with your valid prescription and the pharmacies will apply the discount.

Request Your 2025 Giving Statement

As you prepare for tax season, you may wish to receive a summary of your 2025 donations to NOVA. Your generosity supports not only compassionate services for victims and survivors, but also prevention education and training that help build safer communities.

If you would like a giving statement for your tax records, please email Becky Brockette at Rebecca.Brockette@novabucks.org by Friday, January 26th. Please indicate in your email whether you would like to receive your statement via email or mailed to you. She will provide a statement of your 2025 charitable contributions for your files and can answer any questions you may have.

Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy, peaceful, and hopeful 2026, and thank you for all the ways you support NOVA.

A New Year, A Renewed Commitment to Healing

As we welcome a new year with resolutions and hope, we wish you and your loved ones peace, connection, and a renewed sense of possibility. And remember—if you or someone you know needs support, NOVA is here and you are not alone.

This new year also brings new challenges—as well as new opportunities to help those who need it most. For more than 50 years, NOVA has been able to stand beside individuals and families experiencing trauma because of the generosity of people like you. Your giving has ensured that no one in Bucks County must face crisis or victimization without care, guidance, and support.

But as we step into 2026, the need is urgent.

NOVA remains Bucks County’s only comprehensive, specialized service provider for victims of crime across the lifespan—from children and teens to adults and older adults. When violence or trauma disrupts a life, NOVA is the place people turn for safety, healing, and hope.

Reduced funding from local, state, and federal sources, have placed enormous strain on NOVA. As the new year begins, we invite you to help write the next chapter of healing for our community. Your gift—made today—will have an immediate and meaningful impact, ensuring that no survivor is turned away, no voice goes unheard, and no vital service is left unfunded.

There are many ways to support NOVA now.

Donate online . Gifts to NOVA from individuals, foundations, corporations, businesses and community members are vital to ensuring that NOVA is able to be there for everyone who needs us, now and in the future.

Sponsor or attend Gala Game Night and take part in NOVA’s largest fundraiser of the year on April 17th at The Warrington. This full-throttle celebration is filled with laughter, connection, and impact, all to benefit NOVA.

Volunteer, donate items, or shop at NOVA Thrift Shop. Our thrift shop is one of the largest revenue sources for NOVA, surpassed only by the federal and state government

Thank you for beginning this new year with compassion. Thank you for giving. And thank you for believing that every person in our community deserves safety, dignity, and a future filled with hope.

NOVA was grateful to welcome the Kay Family and the JK12 Foundation to our office to commemorate their very first donation. It is a privilege to be chosen as the recipient of this meaningful gift.

We congratulate to our SAC “Graduating Class” of December 2025! This dedicated group completed 40 hours of Sexual Assault Counseling training, an intensive program led by NOVA staff members who specialize in key topic areas.

We’re always so proud of the Pennridge High School students who participate in our ENCOURAGE Upstanders Peer Education Program. These dedicated students travel throughout Pennridge School District, helping younger students recognize bullying and understand the importance of not being a bystander.

Thank you to American Heritage Credit Union and the Kids-N-Hope Foundation for their generous $2,500 contribution to NOVA. This support strengthens our trauma-informed services and prevention education efforts, helping children and families build safety, resilience, and pathways to healing.

For the seventh year in a row, Brian Compas brought the holiday spirit to Doylestown with his annual Santa Crawl benefiting NOVA. About 50 festive locals bar-hopped for a great cause and raised $1,820 to support our work!

The NOVA team came together to celebrate the holiday season with festive cheer, enjoying a holiday breakfast, exchanging homemade cookies, and sharing surprises with a Secret Santa gift exchange!

We are incredibly thankful to the Target Giving Program for selecting a CAC family to support this holiday season. On 12/23, Parker Dunbar, Store Director at the Warrington Target, generously dropped off gifts for a family of four and their mother, helping to bring comfort, joy, and holiday cheer during a meaningful time.

We are incredibly grateful to Foundations Community Partnership for awarding NOVA a $10,000 Bucks Innovation & Improvement Grant! This funding will support the development of age-appropriate digital safety programming focused on artificial intelligence awareness, risk reduction, and abuse prevention for children, young adults, and families in Bucks County.

"NOVA's services were excellent and exceeded any and all expectations. I was truly blessed to be able to go through the program."

- NOVA Client

The Huge Thrift Store In Pennsylvania That'll Make You Rethink What $38 Can Buy

Budget-conscious shoppers in Pennsylvania are stretching their dollars further at this expansive secondhand haven where $38 transforms into an impressive haul.

The JK12 Foundation

NOVA is honored to highlight the JK12 Foundation, whose generosity and compassion shines brightly in our community. This year, the Foundation made its very first donation — a meaningful $5,000 gift to NOVA — presented in memory of Joseph “Joey” Kay.

Born from profound loss yet powered by enduring love, the JK12 Foundation carries forward Joey’s legacy of joy, kindness, and connection. The Foundation’s inaugural contribution came from the proceeds of the Joey Kay Memorial Race, an event brought to life by family, friends, race sponsors, and the dirt track community. Together, they transformed a memorial race into a movement reflecting the way Joey showed up for others and the powerful ripples of light he left behind.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Kay family, the JK12 Foundation, and every individual who made the memorial race and this donation possible. Your generosity helps ensure that survivors and families in crisis continue to receive the compassion, guidance, and support they deserve.

Joey’s spirit lives on in this act of giving — and through every life touched because of it.

We are so grateful for our partnerships. Thank you for being a Voice Against Violence in our community!

Whether you donate an item from NOVA's Wish List, funds, or your time, know you are making a difference.

Elevate Your Impact in Style!

You can wear your support for your favorite local nonprofit and help spread the word about our mission in style.

From classic tees and cozy sweatshirts to hats and accessories, there's something for everyone, available in multiple colors and more designs than ever before!

Even better? With every purchase, NOVA receives 10–15% back to help fund our work supporting victims and stopping violence.

Browse the new collection and shop with purpose here.

www.novabucks.org | 24-7 Helpline: 1-800-675-6900