Homeland Security Grants for Nonprofits Increase by 40 Percent

The Department of Homeland Security will grant $5.8 million to 80 high-risk nonprofit and religious groups in the New York.
Homeland Security Grants for Nonprofits Increase by 40 Percent
Rep. Anthony Weiner (L) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced $5.8 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect 80 yeshivas, museums, and other religious and nonprofit organizations in New York at a press conference Sunday. (Henry Lam/The Epoch TImes)
7/18/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/HSfundsWEB.jpg" alt="Rep. Anthony Weiner (L) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced $5.8 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect 80 yeshivas, museums, and other religious and nonprofit organizations in New York at a press conference Sunday.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch TImes)" title="Rep. Anthony Weiner (L) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced $5.8 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect 80 yeshivas, museums, and other religious and nonprofit organizations in New York at a press conference Sunday.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch TImes)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1817265"/></a>
Rep. Anthony Weiner (L) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney announced $5.8 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect 80 yeshivas, museums, and other religious and nonprofit organizations in New York at a press conference Sunday.  (Henry Lam/The Epoch TImes)
NEW YORK—Rep. Anthony Weiner (D—NY) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D—NY) announced Sunday that the Department of Homeland Security will grant $5.8 million to 80 high-risk nonprofit and religious groups in the New York City area, an increase of 40 percent over the last year.

“Over the years, these grants have proved to be vital resources in protecting our religious and cultural institutions,” Weiner said in a press release. “Worshipers, museum goers, and hospital visitors expect and deserve a safe environment, and this funding will go a long way towards ensuring their security.”

The grants will provide “significant funding“ for security measures at the institutions that are selected as potential terrorist targets, including 12 community centers, six hospitals, 36 religious schools, 25 synagogues, and one church. Since the program was launched in 2005, almost 300 nonprofit institutes have received a total of nearly $23 million.

This year, 32 Brooklyn institutions, including yeshivas, synagogues, and Jewish centers, hospitals, and schools, are to receive more than $2.3 million in security funding. Nine facilities in Queens are bound to get almost $700,000, and eight Manhattan organizations are scheduled to receive $600,000. Eight institutions in the Bronx will also get $600,000, while five Staten Island organizations will share $375,000.

“New York City remains terrorist target number one. The attempted Times Square attack earlier this year was proof positive that terrorists are not just targeting symbols of our financial power or our infrastructure, but our tourist attractions and cultural centers, as well. That’s why the high-threat funding we are announcing today is so important,” Maloney said.

Organizations that qualified for the grant program were eligible to receive up to $75,000 that can be utilized for training security personnel and installing security measures, such as surveillance cameras, barriers, and controlled entry systems.

The funds are expected to be delivered within the next three months. The grants are being made available through the Urban Area Security Initiative Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

“For Jewish institutions in my district and throughout the country, the terrorist threat is real, ever-present and an enormous financial burden in these difficult times,” said Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens). “These grants, which Congressman Weiner was instrumental in securing, are going where the need is [the] greatest and will make a real difference in the form of safer and more secure synagogues, yeshivas, and community centers that serve tens of thousands of New Yorkers.”