Faith-Based & Nonprofit Institutions Across Ohio to Get More Than Seven Million In Federal Security Resources

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has announced that the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) will distribute more than $7 million to synagogues, churches, religious education facilities, and charity organizations across Ohio during FY 2022. Earlier this year, Portman sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting that the Nonprofit Security Grant Program be adequately funded to meet the needs of at-risk organizations this fiscal year. The NSGP provides grants to faith-based and other nonprofit organizations to help secure their facilities against potential terrorist attacks and acts of hate.

“With more than seven million in allocated funding for this year, it’s clear that Ohio is benefiting from the bipartisan work we’ve done in Congress to ensure that more synagogues, religious and cultural institutions, and nonprofit organizations have the resources and training they need to secure their facilities,” said Portman. “I’m proud to have led efforts to authorize the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, and I am pleased to see the NSGP receive increased funding so that both Ohio and the nation can do all it can to protect at-risk faith- and community-based nonprofits from increasing threats.”

NOTE: The Nonprofit Security Grant Program helps nonprofits identified by threat assessments to be at risk of attack plan for and ready themselves against potential attacks. In addition to hardening facilities, this program has improved efforts to keep at-risk nonprofit organizations safe by promoting emergency preparedness coordination and collaboration activities between public and private community representatives, as well as with state and local government agencies.

In 2020, President Trump signed the bipartisan Protecting Faith-Based and Nonprofit Organizations From Terrorism Act from Senator Portman and Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, into law. This legislation authorizes $75 million annually for five years, from FYs 2020-2024, for the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP). Under the legislation, funding may be used for target-hardening activities, training for personnel, and any other appropriate activity, as defined by the FEMA Administrator.

Read the announcement at the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs