DENVER (KDVR) — Governor Jared Polis announced $250,000 in additional funding will boost security for places of worship typically targeted in hate crimes.

“Colorado respects everyone, it’s a Colorado for all,” Polis told FOX31.

FOX31 learned hate crimes against the Jewish community are at the highest number ever recorded by the FBI. The additional funding will help to secure synagogues, mosques and other places of worship.

The FBI reported that hate crimes against the Jewish community rose 63% between 2022 and 2023, with a total of 33 religion-based hate crimes reported in Colorado in 2023.

"Many people are worried about whether their kids, their families, can safely go to synagogue to church,” said Polis.

In an effort to protect those in the community who face ongoing threats, the $250,000 in immediate additional funding, which comes from state dollars used for emergent needs established as a part of the COVID-19 recovery effort, will be made available along with a way to fast-track the existing non-profit Security Grant Program.

In 2024, Polis and the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management announced that $1,000,000 would support 21 applicants in Colorado’s non-profit Security Grant Program.

“We want to make sure people are safe if they’re at a synagogue, mosque, church, when they’re at a religious event, in a town square, we want to make sure they have that peace of mind,” said Polis.

Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region Senior Associate Regional Director Jeremy Shaver told FOX31 that the funding is crucial to maintaining public safety.

“Very divisive public discourse and political rhetoric is having consequences,” he said.

Shaver said any effort to address hate crimes benefits everyone in the community, from families to first responders.

“Houses of worship are places that provide space for community meetings and gatherings, many of them have schools and preschools and daycare centers, some serve as voting centers or polling places,” he said.

The Colorado non-profit Security Grant Program, established by HB22-1077, can be used to cover the installation of security equipment, planning, exercises, training and other security needs.

Polis’s office told FOX31 that as part of the existing program, funding from a $1,000,000 annual appropriation is made available beginning at the start of the fiscal year, July 1. To qualify, non-profit entities must apply for funding through the federal non-profit Security Grant Program. Under the existing program, entities are eligible for state funds only if they apply for but are not granted funding from the federal program.