Boulder’s Congregation Har HaShem spends about $80,000 a year on security — an expense they didn’t need five years ago.
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That additional expense means they have to work more modestly and can’t hire additional staff, Rabbi Fred Greene said. As places of worship have been targeted in hateful and violent attacks across the country, places such as Har HaShem have spent money to hire security guards for added safety.
But, a new bill introduced to Congress by U.S. Rep Joe Neguse could allow synagogues, churches and community centers to access federal grant funding to cover the cost of hiring security guards.
Neguse, D-Lafayette, partnered with U.S. Rep Don Bacon, R-Nebraska, to introduce the bipartisan Safe Spaces for All Act to Congress. If passed, it would expand how the funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program can be used.
“It’s a real tragedy that we need (this bill), and I do feel like we need it,” Greene said.
FEMA’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding support for structural upgrades and other physical security enhancements to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist or other extremist attacks. The Safe Spaces for All Act would expand how the money can be used, allowing at-risk nonprofits including churches, synagogues and community centers to use the funds to hire security guards and cover the cost of staff responsible for preparing grant applications.
Under the existing grant program, each nonprofit can apply for up to $200,000 in funding per location, and there is $300 million in funding available this fiscal year.
In their application, each nonprofit must describe and substantiate specific threats it faces, for example, by including a police report, insurance claim or internet threats. Each organization must also submit a vulnerability report, through a self-assessment, law enforcement or outside contractor, that assesses internal weaknesses.
Under current law, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program funds cannot be used to pay permanent salaried security personnel or cover the cost of staff responsible for preparing grant applications.
Neguse cited the attack on the Pearl Street Mall as one example of the need for this law, and of the faith-based violence that’s intensified fear among the Jewish community. On June 1, 2025, a group of Jewish people participating in a weekly march on the Pearl Street Mall to raise awareness of hostages in Gaza were the targets of a fiery attack, which killed one woman and left 12 others with burns.
“We must do far more to combat the scourge of antisemitism, and to ensure that synagogues, temples and community centers have the resources to ensure that they are safe as hateful threats and violent actions metastasize in Colorado and across the country,” Neguse said in a release.
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Karen Diamond, the woman who was killed in the Pearl Street attack, was a member of Congregation Bonai Shalom in Boulder led by Rabbi Marc Soloway. He said their houses of worship don’t feel safe anymore. The Bonai Shalom congregation has a policy that any service or event must have an armed security guard, which is expensive, Soloway said.
“It’s really sad, it’s incredibly sad that we need (this bill),” Soloway said. “And we need it.”
Soloway also cited antisemitism within the Boulder Valley School District, where the Anti-Defamation League filed a federal complaint in June claiming that a Jewish student faced persistent and escalating antisemitic harassment at Boulder’s Southern Hills Middle School.
The district is now planning to add antisemitism to its bullying and nondiscrimination policies, create a coordinated response to antisemitic incidences, increase educator training and strengthen consequences for repeated acts of hate.
“It’s gotten to the point where most of our members and the parents of our children don’t feel safe coming to services and classes and events,” Soloway said.
Former Lyons Mayor Hollie Rogin said the Boulder County Center for Judaism has fundraised specifically for security, a fund that she and other attendees have contributed toward. She’s grateful to Neguse for bringing the bill forward so that every religious community can be safe.
“It’s just tough,” Rogin said. “Times are tough financially for just about everybody, and that includes places for worship, I imagine. (This bill) would take a burden off any house of worship so that the security can be taken care of and they can focus on serving their communities in the way they want to serve them.”
The bill is backed by the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Community Relations Council of JEWISHcolorado. Neguse met with JEWISHcolorado in the months following the Pearl Street attack, and the organization raised concerns about the Nonprofit Security Grant Program’s limitations. Together, they were able to identify this legislative solution that would bolster security for places of worship and help protect communities from acts of religiously motivated violence.
Jonathan Lev, the executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center, said houses of worship, religious schools and nonprofits from all faith backgrounds are having to devote substantial resources toward security.
“Expanding this program through the Safe Spaces for All Act to cover security guard payroll and grant application preparation helps to address a significant financial burden for nonprofits facing heightened security threats,” Lev wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “Protecting our spaces is not just about one community; it is about ensuring every community across Colorado has a safe environment to learn, pray, and connect.”
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