North Jersey Jewish organizations win big with Homeland Security grants

Twelve North Jersey day schools, synagogues, and Jewish institutions are slated to receive more than $850,000, out of $1.45 million for New Jersey non-profit organizations, for security upgrades to their facilities from the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS awarded a total of $1.78 billion across the country as part of the Homeland Security Preparedness Grant program, with $19 million going specifically toward non-profit organizations nationwide under the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. Of the 20 New Jersey non-profits that received a total of $1.45 million, 19 are Jewish. In all, northern Jersey Jewish organizations received 59 percent of the total allocated for New Jersey non-profits.

“We’ve done a pretty good job of making the case that just as a Jewish agency, the agencies are at increased risks,” said Alan Sweifach, planning and allocations director at UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey. The federation guided area Jewish agencies through the application process, which Sweifach said is part of the organization’s responsibility to the Jewish community.

The federation itself received a grant for $75,000, which, Sweifach said, would be used for “enhancements to the security of the infrastructure” of UJA-NNJ’s Paramus headquarters. The building already has Jersey barriers, security cameras, and alarm systems.

This is the second NSGP award for UJA-NNJ, which received a grant in 2007.

“It’s important that our institutions be prepared,” said Bob Smolen, the former house chair of Temple Israel & JCC in Ridgewood, who handled the synagogue’s application.

Temple Israel is slated to receive a grant for $68,119, which, Smolen said, would be used to upgrade the synagogue’s entrances, lighting, and camera systems. This is Temple Israel’s first award from the program.

“We need to be as prepared as we can with our staff professionally to deal with any type of intrusion,” he said. “The better prepared we are, the stronger we are.”

The grants are not just to protect against terror attacks, said Sue Gelsey, chief operating officer of the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly. The grants are as much about general security procedures as they are about preventing terrorism, she said.

“We have thousands of members and guests here every day and it’s about safety and security,” she said. “It’s all those pieces.”

The JCC received a $100,000 grant in 2007 and a $75,000 grant this year.

This is the second award for Jewish Family Service of Bergen County & North Hudson, which received a grant in 2008 to put a fence around its Teaneck building. JFS director of operations Julye Brown praised UJA-NNJ for helping JFS through the application process. That support, she said, likely boosts Jewish institutions’ chances of receiving funding.

Jewish organizations received 253 of the 270 non-profit grants distributed nationwide, according to Jewish Federations of North America, the umbrella group for the federation system. An unnamed official in the office of Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said that Jewish organizations made up a large percentage of the applicants for the non-profit grants, which accounts for the high number of recipients.

“Since Sept. 11, non-profits generally, and Jewish communal institutions specifically, have been the victim of an alarming number of threats and attacks,” said William C. Daroff, vice president for public policy and director of JFNA’s Washington office, in a statement.

North Jersey Jewish institutions have traditionally fared very well since the creation of the grant program in 2005. They received $550,000 in 2007; $300,000 in 2008; and $300,000 last year. This year’s award of $858,319 raises the total to regional Jewish organizations to more than $2.5 million.

“These homeland security grants invest in the safety of our communities by providing resources for our first responders to protect and prepare for potential terrorist attacks,” said Lautenberg, who chairs the Senate’s Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, in a statement sent to The Jewish Standard.

In all, New Jersey received $67.1 million in federal money that will go toward various security and first-response programs.

JFNA has been lobbying to boost the funding available for the 2011 NSGP. Draft legislation in the Senate has allocated $20 million, a $1 million increase from this year.

“Our agencies and our schools and our JCCs are going to be more secure,” Sweifach said. “I continue to encourage all of the institutions to apply for this money.”