On October 9-10, 2023, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the five Regional Leads for the “Stop the Hate Program” co-hosted the first-ever, statewide convening at The California Endowment in Los Angeles, bringing together community-based organizations tackling hate across California.
In response to the rising tide of hate, California legislators approved the groundbreaking Stop the Hate program that provided funding administered through CDSS to 80 community organizations statewide providing direct services to victims of hate and their families, and prevention and intervention programs and services to communities vulnerable to hate. The grant program was recently expanded to award an additional $91.4 million to over 170 organizations.
“We’re trying something here in California that no one else is trying. The point of the Stop the Hate program was to make an investment towards a permanent difference and build every community up with that infrastructure,” said Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco).
The Stop the Hate program has expanded to include organizations serving the Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, Black, Latinx, LGBTQIA+, religious minority, and disability communities, enabling them to raise awareness of hate, create collaborative spaces for healing, resiliency, and action, and share resources to support individuals who have been affected by hate.
To kick off the expanded Stop the Hate program, 300 representatives from grantee organizations convened in Los Angeles. Speakers included Joel Gemino (Equality CA), Laila Aziz (Pillars of the Community), Don Han (Groundswell), Lisa Fu (CA Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative), Reena Hajat Carroll (Confluence Rising), Deep Singh (Jakara), Julia Liou (Asian Health Services), Miriam Mesa (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights), and Bayanne Kanawati (Council on American-Islamic Relations) who spoke to the importance of cross-racial collaboration and transformative change.
“To date, our data shows that over 14,000 people were served through direct services and over 2 million people were reached by the prevention and intervention services in the first year of the program. It is inspiring to witness community organizations make long lasting connections and actively strategize towards the future,” said Kim Johnson, Director of CDSS.
By gathering to strengthen #StoptheHateCA networks and build coalitions, we are sparking the community change necessary for everyone to live freely and thrive without the fear of hate.
