A portrait of Monthanus Ratanapakdee standing next to a mural of her late father Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco. Vicha, 84, was fatally shoved in 2021, an event which catalyzed activism to “Stop Asian Hate.” Funding for anti-Asian hate nonprofits may dry up.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
A California state funding program created in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic is set to expire on June 30, with no plan yet for the state to renew the funds.
Community advocates and legislators pushing for continued funding said the need has not abated, with new challenges for some communities by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and xenophobic rhetoric.
“I have seen firsthand the importance of investing in programs that promote inclusion, safety, and belonging,” said Assemblymember Mike Fong, chair of the Asian American Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. “Continued funding for Stop the Hate helps ensure that community-based organizations have adequate resources to educate the public and support victims.”
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Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget was fiscally cautious despite state revenue being above projections. Newsom said he did not want to leave his successor with a deficit. Controller Malia Cohen wrote it was the time for state officials “to remain disciplined by prioritizing debt reduction, protecting reserves, and preserving the flexibility we need to weather economic uncertainty.”
During the pandemic, the API legislative caucus lobbied for dedicated state funds to provide legal aid, mental health services and other support to victims of hate incidents, including non-Asian victims, as well as to fund prevention efforts, such as anti-discrimination education and self-defense workshops.
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Newsom signed the API Equity Budget in 2021, which provided a three-year investment into the Asian and Pacific Islander community, including $110 million to fund the Stop the Hate program. The first round in 2022 disbursed $44 million to 90 organizations. A second round granted $91 million to 173 organizations to be disbursed from 2023 to 2026.
The community nonprofits that have benefitted from the program said the need for anti-hate programs remains. The most recent statewide survey on hate by the California Civil Rights Department found that an estimated one in 11 Californians directly experienced a hate incident in 2024, a majority of whom were targeted because of their race or skin color. About 11% of the reported hate incidents in 2023 involved a physical attack, according to the California Health Interview Survey.
The API Legislative Caucus had sought $100 million to fund the Stop the Hate grant program in fiscal year 2026 to 2027.
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The State Assembly’s proposed budget includes $30 million for the program, but the Governor’s proposed budget does not allocate any funding for it.
H.D. Palmer, spokesperson for the Newsom administration’s Department of Finance, told the Chronicle that as of Thursday afternoon, there was no agreement yet between the administration and the legislature on a final budget plan and discussions were underway.
The legislature must pass a budget by June 15, but negotiations between lawmakers and the Governor will continue and it’s possible money for Stop the Hate may change before the final budget is signed at the end of June.
After hitting a two-decade peak in 2022, the number of hate crimes investigated by California law enforcement agencies has trended downward since, although it remains high.
Vattana Peong, executive director of The Cambodian Family, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit serving refugee and immigrant families, said that anti-Asian hate did not end with the pandemic.
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“It’s still ongoing and that’s why having Stop the Hate funding continue is so critical for our community,” he said.
Just last month, he said, the nonprofit helped a 72-year-old Cambodian man who was violently attacked without provocation in Anaheim. The details of the incident were confirmed by the police. The man was unloading items from his car when a man walking past said something in English.
The Cambodian man, who only speaks Khmer, responded, “Sorry, no English.”
The suspect punched him in the face. He fell to the ground and fractured his hip. He was hospitalized for two weeks, according to Peong, and underwent surgery.
“Now he’s back home but with a lot of anxiety, stress and fear,” Peong said.
With $500,000 in Stop the Hate funding, the organization has funded one full-time and one part-time case worker to help hate victims navigate law enforcement and medical bills, translate documents and provide support.
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The staff helped the Cambodian man file a report with the California Civil Rights Department, seek victim compensation from the state and explain hospital bills and medication.
With the Stop the Hate funding, the nonprofit has served 3,200 victims of hate incidents in the region and funded 72 self-defense classes as well as held education events to encourage empathy toward diverse communities in Santa Ana, such as an art exhibition of works created by survivors of the Cambodian genocide and hate incidents.
With the impending loss in funding, Peong said the nonprofit will have to layoff the full-time case manager at the end of June as well as cut back to just core services. But come October, he said, the nonprofit will run out of funding for even the part-time victim services staff.
“With the limited funding in California right now,” he said, “we’re very concerned about our ability to continue this important program for our community members who are victims of hate crimes and incidents.”
Peter Gee, co-executive director of the Los Angeles-based Little Tokyo Service Center, said he saw first-hand the impact of the $270,000 in Stop the Hate funding his nonprofit has received over the past three years. The money helped to fund a case manager and a mental health clinician who provided one-on-one support to community members. For example, the nonprofit staff helped a Japanese-speaking victim of violence, who was hospitalized from her injuries, to apply for victim compensation and get ongoing therapy.
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“There’s just so much need and that hasn’t changed,” Gee said.
More than a year into stepped up federal immigration enforcement under Trump, Gee said, he’s seen the fear and anxiety. The nonprofit has provided emotional support groups for people impacted by the crackdown.
Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the AAPI Equity Alliance, the Los Angeles-based regional lead for Stop the Hate program, and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said that anti-immigrant sentiment is high in the U.S.
“It’s a really scary time for us,” Kulkarni said, referring to immigrants. “There are real concerns everyday Americans have about their health and wellbeing, that’s why we need this funding now more than ever.”