Six Arkansas religious institutions have received grants to increase security measures for their congregations.
The Arkansas Department of Public Safety distributed more than $227,000 to six congregations through the Right to Worship Safely Grant Program Tuesday. Four Jewish congregations, B’nai Israel, Lubavitch of Arkansas, House of Israel, and Agudath Achim received grants. The other two recipients are Catholic organizations, the Subiaco Abbey and St. Mary’s Catholic Church of Hot Springs.
31 organizations applied for the grant, with over $2 million requested.
In a press release, Gov. Sarah Sanders said, “No person or community should ever be violently targeted for their faith. The recipients we are announcing today demonstrated the highest need for support, and I’m proud my administration is stepping up to help.”
The release noted that those not receiving funding did not meet the grant program requirements, which required that the institution be a 501(c)3 non-profit, had to have received an active terrorist threat in the past 12 months, and had established risk to the organization.
The funding can be used toward the installation of security equipment, to contract security services, to install fencing or barriers, and to control access to buildings.
The program was announced in November 2023 and is modeled after the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The initial application period opened on January 1 and closed on January 15.
