State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10th dist.) announced that five nonprofit houses of worship in the 10th Senatorial District have received grants from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
The allocations for the organizations in Senate total $117,152 and went to Kehilat Hanahar, The Little Shul by the River ($24,760); Kol Emet, Yardley Reconstructionist Synagogue ($24,480); The River of Life Church of the Assemblies of God ($25,000); Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish ($24,912); and St. Philip’s Church ($18,000).
The nonprofit security grant fund was established through Act 83 of 2019 and administers grant funding to nonprofit organizations that “principally serve individuals, groups or institutions that are included within a bias motivation category for single bias hate crime incidents as identified by the FBI’s 2017 Hate Crime Statistics publication.” The funding from these grants will go toward security projects or improvements to better protect the organization facilities and its individual members.
More than 800 applications were received from across the commonwealth, requesting $27 million-plus for security projects. This is the first distribution from the PCCD’s grant fund, which had an initial appropriation of $5 million.
“A house of worship should be a sanctuary, never a place of fear. I’m grateful that these organizations in the district will be receiving funding for their security enhancement projects,” Santarsiero said. “I will continue to advocate on behalf of all residents and the safety of our community, and fight for increased funding for these important programs in the future.”
In January, Santarsiero held an information session, allowing members of nonprofit houses of worship throughout the 10th district to learn about the application process. Thirty-five local groups attended the presentation to learn about the PCCD program and the project qualifications for their institution.
