Helen P. Bradley

A native of Bethune, SC, Helen has lived all her adult life in Savannah, where she headed a nationally recognized victim advocacy program in the district attorney’s office. Inspired by the resilience of thousands of crime victims and their families, she spearheaded passage of a dozen pieces of legislation, including the Georgia Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights and a crime victims’ compensation program. Familiar with the MeToo movement before it became a catchphrase, Helen also served on the boards of several child advocacy, domestic violence, and sexual assault organizations.

A former newspaper journalist, Helen has written curricula, essays, and articles for the National Organization for Victim Assistance, the National Center for Victims of Crime, and the Georgia Victim Assistance Academy. Her writing has been published in The Savannah Anthology, Savannah Magazine, The Savannah Morning News, and Law Enforcement Magazine. She volunteered for 10 years with Deep Center, a Savannah youth literacy program that won a 2015 National Endowment for the Arts award.

In August 2022, Helen won first place in a national essay contest out of a field of 55 entries. NextTribe, the “voice of women aging boldly,” sponsored the contest in which Helen’s essay, “From High Heels to Hot Wheels,” reveals how she unexpectedly became a first-time mom at the age of 52, when her husband’s two-year-old grandson came to live with them.