State officials announced Thursday that more than 300 California-based nonprofits and faith-based organizations, including synagogues, mosques and Black churches, would receive more than $43.7 million in federal funding to help increase security against hate-based crime.

The security enhancements funded through the grants can include gates, reinforced doors, access control systems, high-intensity lighting and screening systems, officials said.

“An attack against any community is an attack against our entire state and our values,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “We will protect the ability of every Californian to worship, love, and gather safely without fear of hate or violent attacks. California is continuing to safeguard all communities, including those most at risk.”

The funding — $434.5 million total nationwide — comes from the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program overseen by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. California organizations are set to receive about 10% of the total funding, the highest allocation to one state. The funding was allocated to nonprofits by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Rabbi Dovid Labkowski of the Chabad Jewish Center of Oakland said that the funding is “huge” for the center. He mentioned the 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists and the undercurrent of antisemitism that has been resurgent since then.

“Especially since Oct. 7, we feel like the Jewish community is under attack,” Labkowski said. “Having this funding to be able to protect ourselves during services in our facilities is super helpful.”

Labkowski said that the center has seen hate-based attacks twice in the last year — rocks were thrown at the synagogue, and a menorah that the center puts on display during Hanukkah on Lake Merritt was destroyed in December 2023.

“Early on, we were hesitant to add too much security,” he said, explaining that leaders worried that heavy security would cause visitors to feel threatened. “But now I think the Jewish community here at least feels that it’s needed and it’s important, and they want to see it.”

The Chabad center previously used funding from the state to install bulletproof glass along the front of their building. With the new funding, they plan to install more cameras an light-control systems and a vestibule on the front of the synagogue as “an extra layer of protection,” Labkowski added. The funding will also help fund armed and unarmed security guards during services and other times when people are present.

“We’re looking into things that we never imagined we would ever have to look into,” he added. “We’re hopeful that things will get better and that all people should be able to exercise their faith without putting themselves in any risk.”

Officials at St. Timothy Catholic Church in San Mateo, another recipient of the federal funding, plan to use it to put up a fence around the church to help the community feel safer, said Denise Allen, the church’s operations manager.

“We were just really concerned,” Allen said. “This is going to be huge for our community to feel a little bit more protected.”

Allen said that the church has recently been vandalized with spray-paint tagging. There were two other incidents when a person entered the church during mass, yelling, and another time when the church was burglarized.

“You’re never going to be away from hatred because people hate,” Allen said. “If you don’t always necessarily believe what they believe, then they somehow think they’re wrong.”

Susan Frazer, president and CEO of Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley, a charity based in Los Gatos, said she is hopeful that the security funding will help the staff, clients and volunteers feel safe amid rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

“As a Jewish organization that also serves people of many faiths, including the Muslim community, we are at heightened risks for anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and unfortunately those risks continue to escalate,” she said. “Just by the mere fact that we have ‘Jewish’ in our name as a social service agency puts us at heightened risk.”

Because Jewish Family Services helps resettle refugees from around the world, they have been identified and targeted by white supremacist groups as “counter to their initiatives,” Frazer said.

“We don’t want to live in fear,” she added. “We come to work every day not living in that fear, but it’s always in the back of the mind.”