Bill to fund security for non-profits moves forward

DENVER (KDVR) — Finding the funding for security is not always easy for some organizations, especially non-profits. In recent years, threats have risen against some groups including places of worship here in Colorado and beyond.

For some places of worship, staying safe boils down to funding. So lawmakers are looking to address the lack of it in hopes of keeping everyone safe.

Josh Gold is the executive director at a synagogue in Denver. He said the worship experience for many synagogues has changed over the years.

“I first started here three weeks before the Pittsburgh shooting so my whole professional career here has been around security,” said Gold. “Even when I first started here, our doors were opened Saturday morning for services and they’ve been locked now for last two or three years.”

While Gold said the house of worship he leads has received some threatening phone calls and emails, he is grateful it was nothing major like the plot on Temple Emanuel in Pueblo.

Experts with the Anti-defamation League said these incidents are on the rise.

“Our most recent survey in 2020, we had 60 incidents of anti-Jewish vandalism, harassment and assault reported to our ADL office here in Colorado. That was the second-highest level in the last 10 years, just one incident less than the high in 2019,” said Jeremy Shaver with the ADL’s Moutain States Region.

Jewish communities are not the only ones experiencing these attacks. The FBI reported a six percent rise in hate crimes last year.

“I think we’ve gotten to that point where this bigotry and hate manifesting itself in so many different ways have kept this constant baseline and has normalized our community’s needs for security,” said state Rep. Iman Jodeh.

Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet is joining Jodeh in backing a bill that would start a state program to allocate $1.5 million in grant money for Colorado non-profits who may have missed out on federal grants.

“When the applications go through the federal process, perhaps they are getting funding first but this would allow for all of those smaller nonprofits who were not able to make it through the federal funding round to be able to have access to the funding,” Michaelson Jenet said.

The bill passed out of committee overwhelmingly, with only two members voting no.

It goes to the appropriations committee next.