Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Dec. 15 nearly $4 million in funding to support security enhancement projects for 93 nonprofits, including several Jewish institutions in the Philadelphia area.
“While it’s a shame this has been necessary, I’m proud to have secured nearly $20 million over the past three years to protect Pennsylvania’s diverse and vulnerable communities from hate-driven violence,” Wolf said in a prepared statement. “I look forward to the day when the goodness of humanity prevails.”
Wolf signed House Bill 859 to create the Nonprofit Security Grant Program in November 2019, one year after the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue complex shooting.
Administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the program supports grants to nonprofits that principally serve individuals, groups or institutions included within “a bias motivation category for single bias hate crime incidents,” as identified by the FBI’s Hate Crime Statistics publication, such as race/ethnicity/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender and gender identity.
Applicants could apply for grant awards ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 for security enhancements. The money can be used for safety and security planning, safety and security equipment and technology, training, building upgrades, vulnerability and threat assessments, and other security enhancements.
Local organizations receiving grants include:
Bucks County
Mid-States Habonim Camping Association, Inc., $24,000
Delaware County
Judith Creed Horizons for Achieving Independence, $75,000
Montgomery County
Brotherhood Temple Brith Achim, $24,814
Congregation Beth Am Israel, $25,000
Kaiserman Jewish Community Center, $40,000
Kohelet Yeshiva, $108,419
Philadelphia County
Drizin-Weiss Post 215 Jewish War Veterans of the United States Of America, Inc., $84,333
Penn Hillel, $25,000
PCCD plans to release another Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program solicitation in January. More information about PCCD’s Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program and the application process can be found on PCCD’s website.