Lehigh Times

Gov. Tom Wolf approved $4.5 million in funding toward decreasing hate crimes.

Imagine walking home and getting assaulted — although it's uncertain if you’ll walk away from it. That event is familiar to the LGBT and religious communities.

“I hope we can all agree that regardless of religion, everyone deserves to feel safe in their place of worship,” Sen. Judy Schwank wrote on Facebook.

Wolf isn’t the only politician engaged in ending hate crimes.

Sens. Schwank and Jay Costa have sponsored Senate Bill 228 to permanently fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.

“As a Squirrel Hill native and a member of the Jewish faith, the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting affected me deeply,” Schwank said on her website. “It was a rare moment where legislators and community leaders came together and decided that we had to take action to make sure something like it never happens again. Everyone in the commonwealth, regardless of religion, deserves to feel safe in their place of worship. I’m grateful to see this crucial program continue.”

The Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding to churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and other nonprofit organizations which face bias and are targets of hate crimes.

“The Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition is grateful to Gov. Wolf, the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic and Republican Caucuses and the House of Representatives Democratic Caucus for their cooperative efforts to continue funding this program with the goal of keeping our religious and communal facilities safe from acts of violence and hate,” Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition Chairman Marc Zucker said in a release.

The $4.5 million in new funding for the program is available through the federal American Rescue Plan Act.

“Hate has no place here in Pennsylvania,” Wolf said in a release. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen an alarming uptick in hate crimes across the commonwealth. These bias incidents tear communities apart.”

Last year in 2021, Pennsylvania saw a 97% increase to 219 hate crimes.

“It is my hope that Pennsylvanians will rise against hate, that we will unite to scorch the bias and prejudice that hurts groups or individuals solely because of their race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation,” Wolf said in a release. “We, unfortunately, cannot rely on humanity alone, which is why I'm making this $4.5 million available for nonprofit organizations to protect themselves.”