Assemblymember Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs and community groups today celebrated the distribution of $30.3 million in Stop AAPI Hate grants to combat the rising number of attacks targeting this community. The Transformative Grants represent the second round of funding, as part of last year’s historic $166.5 million API Equity Budget dedicated to providing resources and services to victims, while also strengthening violence prevention programs. The first round, totaling $14.2 million, was allocated last Spring.
“The latest round of grants is timely because the efforts to stop AAPI hate need resources now more than ever. The most recent statistics show hate crime increased 33% in California last year, highlighting the need for more state investment in the Asian Pacific Islander community,” said Ting. “This new funding will be impactful because it will work towards creating a safer environment and providing help to victims.”
A complete list of the twelve grant recipients can be found here with most of it going to larger nonprofits that can use part of their award to subcontract out to help smaller organizations in the efforts to stop hate. The monies will mean greater services for victims, more senior escort programs, mental health programs and additional activities that promote greater cultural understanding – just to name a few.
From the start of the pandemic through the end of last year, nearly 11,000 incidents of hate across the country have been reported to the national Stop AAPI Hate website. The surge in attacks has been attributed to people wrongly blaming a community for COVID-19 and the restrictions that followed.
“Collectively, the Coalition for Community Safety and Justice founding organizations (Chinese for Affirmative Action, Chinatown Community Development Center, Chinese Progressive Association and Community Youth Center) have a combined 200+ years of experience in the community. Our Transformative Grant will help us continue to build on our successes by supporting and engaging with an additional 5,000+ individuals through workshops and programming, while also more broadly reaching 20,000+ through outreach, communications, and general events,” said Sarah Wan, Executive Director of Community Youth Center of San Francisco.
“With the continuous rise of anti-Asian hate, the need for state funding to combat this illness in society has never been greater. We are grateful to be a recipient of a Transformative Grant. This investment will help us ensure our communities are safer through two focuses: victim support and hate prevention. We will expand our in-language hate crime/incident case management services, increase access to hate prevention educational materials, and grow our bystander intervention training program. Thank you, Assemblymember Ting, the California Department of Social Services and the AAPIA Commission for your continued support,” said Victoria ‘Nikki’ Dominguez, Policy Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.
“Funding from the Stop the Hate will enable so much support for community members’ impacted by hate. This includes in-language victims’ assistance services, mental health support and prevention efforts. So many communities across the state will be coming together to fight against hate in all forms. This funding is transformational,” said Mary Anne Foo, Executive Director, Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Inc. (OCAPICA).
Assembly Budget Chair Ting not only championed the API Equity Budget last year, but he also secured $26 million for a new arts and media center in San Francisco’s Chinatown and $5 million to renovate a commercially vital one-block stretch of Buchanan Mall in the City’s Japantown. Both projects are key to educating visitors, promoting cultural understanding and ensuring small API businesses survive.
In this year’s budget, he secured $4 million for Portsmouth Square and $6 million for the Japantown Peace Plaza.