DA launches fourth annual “Bend the Arc” grant program

                                                                                                                                        Español​​中文 Tiếng Việt​​ TAGALOG

For release on April 4, 2024 

CONTACT: 
Hugo Meza 
Deputy District Attorney
Community Prosecution Unit 
[email protected]
(408) 792-2456

DA launches fourth annual “Bend the Arc” grant program 

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has kicked off the 2024 “Bend the Arc” grant program, poised to give $60,000 in grants to local organizations who are working towards increasing opportunity.

Groups are eligible to receive up to $5,000 in grants to help them work against racial discrimination and disproportionality in Santa Clara County. District Attorney Jeff Rosen began offering the community grants in 2021.

“Striving towards racial justice in our neighborhoods isn’t a one-sided job. It should be encouraged and supported,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “We are here to do both.”

One of the grants given out last year was awarded to the African American Community Service Agency, an organization that provides services that preserve and promote the dignity and culture of the African American community in our county. The funds were used to support the work of its Policy and Advocacy Program that implemented six town hall programs on policy topics and led four community actions regarding city/county policies.

Another grant went towards Silicon Valley Pride to facilitate two events to benefit the Latinx and Asian American Pacific Islander communities. Pacific Clinics was awarded another grant that provided a five-part series of summer workshops for transitional aged youth, ages 16 to 26, from marginalized communities.

The grants come from the DA’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, which is money seized from gangs, drug traffickers, and criminal organizations. The DA’s Office invests the funds back into the community to help repair the harm caused by those criminals.

DA Rosen announced a series of 26 social justice reforms in 2020, including the Racial Justice Grant Program. All of the reforms are intended to address racial discrimination and promote equality within the criminal justice system. The implementation of the reforms began in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

The application deadline is Friday, May 10, 2024. For more information, please visit the Bend the Arc Grant Application Eligibility and Requirements webpage.

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