BREAKING: Hate Crimes Grant Terminated by Department of Justice
Federally Qualified Health Center to File Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 29, 2025
Contact: Cabot Petoia, clpetoia@gmail.com, 828-899-9239

** To book an interview, contact clpetoia@gmail.com **
Los Angeles – Last week, St. John’s Community Health – a network of federally qualified health centers providing free and low cost health care in Southern California – received notices from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that a $400,000 grant meant to provide services to victims of hate crimes has been terminated; and from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that a grant to support transgender health has also been terminated.
The hate crime support grant funded legal services, case management, and social support to victims of crime in Los Angeles County, with an emphasis on victims of hate crimes perpetrated against people of color, Jewish people, and the LGBTQIA+ community. Close to 1,000 hate crime victims were receiving these services through St. John’s Community Health. The CDC Transcend Grant funded HIV care, behavioral health, and supportive services to trangender patients receiving healthcare at St. John’s Community Health.
St. John’s Community Health believes this latest attempt by the Trump administration to scrap federal funding is yet another direct violation of both the law at large, and of the Rhode Island federal court order which restored federal funding after the temporary freeze in January of this year. The organization intends to sue in response to the notice from the DOJ, and will seek a far-reaching injunction against the termination of both grants.
“The move to scrap funds meant for victims of hate crimes is the latest example of the Trump administration going after the most marginalized communities to fund tax breaks for the ultra wealthy,” said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health. “We cannot afford to stand idly by – we must continue mobilizing all resources and activating our collective power to protect health care access and critical services for everyone.”
In March, the community health network went public – through a declaration through the California Attorney General’s office and the media – after federal grants allocated through the CDC and SAMHSA were terminated. The organization’s response helped prompt the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island to grant a motion for enforcement of the court’s prior order that prohibited the Trump Administration from implementing its freeze of up to $3 trillion in federal funding.

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St. John’s Community Health is a network of 24 community health centers and 4 mobile clinics providing free and low-cost health care in South, Central, and East Los Angeles; the Inland Empire; and the Coachella Valley.