Montgomery County is adding $500,000 to its Nonprofit Security Grant Program for religious and cultural institutions following an attack at a Michigan synagogue and amid tensions over the war in Iran.

“When tensions rise globally, we see the impact locally,” County Executive Marc Elrich said in a press release Tuesday. “We’ve heard directly from our faith communities and nonprofit partners that they are worried.”

The county’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program provides funding to organizations for security expenses, such as hiring guards or purchasing cameras. A qualifying organization is required to demonstrate that it is a nonprofit at risk of hate crimes based on its work or the communities it serves, or a religious organization that has 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and is similarly at risk.

The program began in 2018 as a response to the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

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Last year, the county awarded $1.2 million in security grants, the largest funding pot in the program’s history.

The new supplemental funding will focus exclusively on increased security staffing needs over the next 90 days, according to county officials. Awards will be capped at a maximum of $10,000 and will be scaled based on a risk formula developed by the county. The money will come from the county’s budget reserves.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations cut a federal program offering similar grants. Those funds have come into focus as Jewish organizations voice security fears after the March 12 shooting and vehicle-ramming attack at Temple Israel in Michigan.

Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said the presence of trained security guards at the Michigan synagogue likely prevented the attack from escalating into a mass casualty event.

“Expressions of support and solidarity are important, but this is a time for action,” Halber told The Banner. “This funding is exactly how policymakers should respond when their faith communities are confronted with hatred. It will save lives.”