Nonprofit leaders hear from Amo, Magaziner about Security Grant Program

The Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island reaffirmed its support for security opportunities in Rhode Island with an open gathering for nonprofit leaders on Dec. 2. Agency heads and staff got a chance to hear from U.S. Representatives Gabe Amo and Seth Magaziner about the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) and how it can support nonprofits across the state.

Community leaders heard from prior grant recipients, including Rabbi Preston Neimeiser of Temple Beth-El and Adrienne Gagnon, executive director of DownCity Design. As Rabbi Neimeiser put it: "These grants enable us to harden our buildings and not to harden our hearts.”

Gagnon attested to the grant allowing community outreach organizations like DownCity Design “to strike a balance [...] being welcoming, introducing ourselves to new community members who might be interested in our work, but also keeping the kids in our programs safe.”

Additionally, attendees were able to receive updates on the continued fight to protect and expand nonprofit security funding from representatives in Washington. Amo spoke about his personal experience growing up in Rhode Island. “We're here, really, because we share a belief in the same fundamental truth: that everyone deserves to gather, deserves to worship, deserves to learn, deserves to be in community without fear, without fear for safety,” said Amo.

The congressman urged nonprofit leaders to leverage their close relationships and bias incident intervention work to make the case for state-funded security: “That fear that penetrates, that stays with you, lasts beyond any particular incident,” acknowledged Amo, “but what it does is it provides a backdrop [...] for our participation fully in the things that we believe in.”

Last cycle’s applications highlighted the continued need for support for Rhode Island’s nonprofits. In 2024, the NSGP program awarded 17 grants, totaling more than $2.2 million for nonprofits in the state. This amount accounted for only 43% of the total applicant pool, leaving about 4,000 applications unfunded.

Amo is determined to shore up more support for the upcoming cycle of funding: “We collectively do not accept a situation where more than half of the appli-cants are denied the resources they need,” he explained. “That's why we have partners in our delegation who are going to fight for every dollar that's possible: our senators.

“And for those who aren't here today,” he added, “we'll make sure they get the word, because we've got some work to do.” Amo and Magaziner already have a head start. On Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the release of an additional $210 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), thanks to a bill supported by both Magaziner and Amo, H.R.815, in April of 2024.

Rep. Seth Magaziner echoed Amo’s intimate ties to the Rhode Island community and the importance of understanding the landscape of extremism and security in the U.S. today.

"Your job as the leaders of your organizations is to worry about safety so that others don't have to,” said Magaziner. “I want to thank all of you for stepping up and taking that mantle of leadership.”

“My children, Max and Lucy, go to daycare right below us, and particularly after Oct. 7 and the spike in antisemitic violence across the country, I often found myself thinking about them, and found a lot of solace in the fact that here at the JCC, Adam [Greenman] and his predecessor and their team have been taking advantage of this [NSGP] program for a long time."

Magaziner echoed the somber statistics that most attendees were familiar with: “Over the last half decade, for the first time in a long time, more Americans have been killed by domestic extremists. And the most common motivation when a motivation could be identified was racially and religiously motivated extremism, and it's a very different and very tricky kind of threat pattern."

The congressman urged past participants to spread the word and interested applicants to contact representatives from the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA), who can help with application guidelines and details, as well as with the allocation of funds. Denise Manni of RIEMA attested to the importance of seeking out more information about the opportunity, even if agencies weren’t sure about their eligibility: “Make those applications strong so that FEMA can hear you, really.”

Applications for supplemental funding on Dec. 4, 2024, and close on Jan. 15, 2025. Visit the link below to learn more about grant opportunities in Rhode Island: https://controller.admin.ri.gov/grants-management/state-rhode-island-grant-funding-opportunities.

EMMA NEWBERY (enewbery@jewishallianceri.org) is a staff writer and podcast host for Jewish Rhode Island.