David Mekeel: 3 Berks organizations receive Pa. diversity grants
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Apr. 14—Three Berks County organizations are among 120 churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and other nonprofit organizations across Pennsylvania that will receive state diversity grants.
A total of $5.23 million is being distributed to organizations that serve diverse communities and can be subject to bias and hate crimes. The money is to be used to improve security and protect them from hate crimes.
These Berks organizations received grants:
—GoggleWorks Center for the Arts: $150,000.
—Sacred Heart School: $25,000.
—Reform Congregation Oheb Sholom: $19,094.
The grant awardees were eligible to apply for grants of $5,000 to $150,000 for security enhancements designed to protect the safety and security of their members or patrons.
Funding can be spent for safety and security planning, safety and security equipment and technology, training, building upgrades, vulnerability and threat assessments, and other security enhancements.
The grants are part of the Nonprofit Security Grant Fund Program, which is administered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
"This is an investment in the safety and security of the diverse communities that are the tapestry of Pennsylvania," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement announcing the grants. "It's unfortunate that hate continues to surface here, hurting Pennsylvanians and tearing apart our communities. I will continue to stand with and support these communities in any way I can."
The program was established to provide grants 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 Hate Crime Statistics publication, the commission said.
The categories include race/ethnicity/ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender and gender identity, the commission said.
Earlier this year, Wolf announced that $4.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act would be added to the program.
For more information on the program visit pccd.pa.gov.
