Menorah Park Awarded Grant to Protect Against Hate Crimes
Menorah Park of CNY was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from NYS’s New York State’s “Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes” program, a project of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services. The funds from the state will be used to protect the Menorah Park campus against hate crimes.
Protective measures include installing new safety windows on the Menorah Park’s main building and the Oaks independent living building, new security exterior and interior doors, additional video cameras, and employee safety awareness. The enhancements will be made starting in 2022 and will continue through 2023.
“Our board members created a Security Task Force in 2019, and they drove this entire process,” said Mary Ellen Bloodgood, Menorah Park’s CEO. “While we installed a new security entrance to be staffed by trained personnel in 2019, there were many other areas where security issues, especially with the escalation in anti-Semitic crimes, could become an issue. We are also grateful to our local and regional law enforcement agencies and their support with our ongoing security initiatives.”
“Our Security Task Force was formed out of an abundance of concern by the Menorah Park board at the increasing number of violent anti-Semitic attacks faced by Jewish and Jewish-affiliated facilities across the country,” said Andy Fox, President/CEO of Natur-Tyme and Menorah Park Security Task Force chair. “We’re pleased that New York State and the Homeland Security and Emergency Services group saw fit to award Menorah Park this grant, as we’re eager to implement these very necessary safety features to protect our most vulnerable seniors, as well as our dedicated employees.”