The state of California has awarded $76 million in grants to bolster security to nonprofits at “high risk for violent attack and hate crimes,” including nearly $5.66 million to 27 Jewish institutions in Northern California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s grant announcement on March 24 comes amid a Trump administration freeze on security funding for religious institutions doled out by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including money that was already promised.
Rafael Brinner, director for community security for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, told J. in an email that the Federation is closely following the reports about FEMA.
“We are staying abreast of decisions impacting FEMA security grant funding in order to best advise Jewish nonprofits in NorCal who are in the process of implementing federal security grants,” Brinner said.
Brinner’s comment followed the allocation of state security grants to 347 organizations, including 269 faith-based groups. More than 1,600 institutions applied for a grant. The $76 million is the largest amount granted since Newsom signed into law the creation of the state’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) in 2019, according to his office.
“Despite facing significant budget challenges, the California Legislature will continue to stand firm in our commitment to supporting vulnerable communities targeted by hate,” state Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) and state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), co-chairs of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, said in a joint statement. “We have no doubt that this funding will continue to make a major difference in protecting the Jewish community and all communities targeted by hate.”
The purpose of NSGP is to “provide funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations,” according to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which administers the program.
The Northern California grants ranged from one grant for $21,000 to 11 grants for the maximum amount of $250,000.
In Northern California, the recipients included three JCCs, three Jewish day schools, three Chabad houses, the Russian-Speaking Jewish Community of SF Bay Area, Hillel of Silicon Valley and the Jewish Community Free Clinic in Santa Rosa.
A dozen synagogues also received the grants including Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, Congregation Am Tikvah in San Francisco, Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon, Congregation Beth Shalom in Napa and Congregation B’nai Israel in Sacramento.
For years, Jewish communities have sought government support for security enhancements.
At the time the NSGP was established in 2019, Jews across the country were reeling from the worst antisemitic attack in U.S. history that killed 11 people and wounded six others at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018, as well as the shooting at the Chabad of Poway in April 2019 when a white supremacist opened fire, killing one person and wounding three others. Such incidents led to heightened concern over hate-fueled violence targeting Jewish communities.
The Bay Area faced its own shock in 2023 when a man entered and fired blanks from a weapon inside the Schneerson Center, a Russian-speaking congregation in San Francisco’s Richmond District. No one was injured.
Before the NSGP was created, most security grants for California nonprofits were funded by the federal government. The NSGP was established to fill a gap between what the federal government provided and what the state’s nonprofits sought to better safeguard themselves, such as reinforced doors and gates, high-intensity lighting, alarm equipment and security guards.
David Bocarsly, executive director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, praised Newsom’s commitment to the nonprofit security grants, calling it a “historic investment in safety for at-risk communities.”
Molly Jozer, community security adviser at the Federation, spoke to the J. about the possibility of an end to federal reimbursements for nonprofit security enhancements.
If such funds become unavailable, Jozer said, the organizations that will suffer the most are smaller synagogues and modestly sized nonprofits.
“It may not be a massive [burden] for a really large church or a synagogue or a much larger institution or nonprofit. But it can be really devastating to these smaller organizations that are putting in the personal dollars of their congregations and their communities into funding these projects,” Jozer said, “and now they’re just standing by waiting and waiting and waiting to get that reimbursement.”