By Dianne Anderson

Hate crime, mostly targeting Black people, continues to reach the highest levels in a decade in Orange County, even as local groups brace for key Stop the Hate funding and resources to soon run out.

It’s a reality facing a lot of nonprofits, but whatever happens, organizers say they will keep reaching out, showing up and helping where they can to provide safe spaces and victim support.

For Debora Wondercheck, the problem is recent, and personal.

Her own daughter was out on a stroll trying to buy a Crumbl Cookie in Newport Beach when a group of e-bikers rode by screaming racial slurs.

“That actually happened with my daughter as well. Six boys on e-bikes, just calling out the N-word over and over again,” said Wondercheck, Arts & Learning Conservatory founder and founding member of the Orange County Black Solidarity Network.

That also follows the February hate crime at UC Irvine where a group of white teens on e-bikes chased and attacked a Black undergraduate student shortly after a Black Student Union community event.

Wondercheck said this kind of hate is exactly why the OC Black Solidarity Network matters and why funding is a concern, but they are determined to not let the program fall by the wayside.

“We’ve done too much work so far,” she said. “Hate crime is just not going away. It’s going up. Asian Americans as well, all of us minorities, it’s getting worse.”

Orange County hate crime has increased by 67% over the past five years, with around 450 incidents in the latest reported period. Bias against Black, Asian and LGBTQ+ communities make up most of the crimes, but Black residents continue to be the most frequently targeted group.

Gregory Scott

Next up on June 4, their Arts & Learning Conservatory event brings social justice front and center stage with various art forms and talent. Now in its fifth year, the Gospel Voices of Orange County concerts that started during national outrage after George Floyd’s killing continue to spotlight Black culture and history.

For as long as she remembers, there was little or no support for Black-led organizations in Orange County until the OC Community Foundation’s African American Alliance Fund, led by Tammy Tumbling. Through that fund, she said many nonprofits finally gained resources and a seat at the table.

She was among the first to receive funding for Gospel Voices programming. Today, her program serves about 4,000 students, running programs in 80 schools across 12 school districts and reaching over 32,000 students since 2004 with scholarships for Black and Brown children.

Keeping support going for the OC Black Solidarity Network is a major goal through sponsors and partnerships, but she said they intend to keep pushing forward.

“Our mentality is we’re unified and we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to continue and help, whatever that looks like,” she said.

In 2024, Black residents were targeted in 26 percent of reported hate crimes, the highest rate of race-based bias in the county, as incidents reached a decade high, a trend that continues into 2025.

California’s Stop the Hate program funding started during the pandemic and expanded in 2023 to help local efforts like OCBSN address rising hate. That program, a $91 million statewide initiative, is set to expire June 30.

OCAPICA led the California Department of Social Services’ Stop the Hate initiative in the region, directing funds to community groups, including OCBSN. Organizers are thinking about ways to sustain services.

Now, with less than 90 days before funding ends, local advocate Gregory Scott said they knew the funding was limited to three years, but everyone had hoped that hate would have eased up by now. Instead, it has intensified.

Following the recent UC Irvine incident, the Network stepped up advocacy and is planning a town hall. They also participated in a Zoom meeting and are partnering with the local NAACP and the UCI campus Black Student Union.

Teamwork has been strong and they have three primary leaders of the network, he said. CAP serves as a program lead, Charitable Ventures served as a fiscal partner, and the OC Community Foundation is the philanthropic partner, along with coalition members.

“That’s going to help us going forward. I don’t know where the funding is going to end up, or what our future holds, but I’m grateful for what we’ve done so far,” said Scott, president and CEO of CAP OC, which serves as a program lead for the Orange County Black Solidarity Network.

He said it’s critical that the community knows where to turn when faced with race hate.

Discussions on next steps are still unfolding, but in the meantime, Coalition members meet regularly through events and quarterly convenings, an effort that grew out of the African American Alliance Fund.

“We’ve been able to learn a lot about how to build a coalition, build a movement, and staying on top of development topics as it relates to the Black community,” he said.

They are also preparing for their pre-Juneteenth June 4 event to highlight what the Network has accomplished over the past few years. He said they are proud of their successes and powerful members, all pulling together.

Launched in 2023, the Network brought together eight organizations, including the Orange County Community Foundation, Community Action Partnership of Orange County, Charitable Ventures, 100 Black Men of Orange County, Arts & Learning Conservatory, Council of African American Parents, the Black Chamber Education Fund, and The G.R.E.E.N. Foundation.

“We have several high-level Black-led organizations who are part of this coalition to move the needle,” he said.

While Stop the Hate serves multiple communities, his focus remains on the Black community, and progress has been made in building a network that the community can rely on, he said.

“I’m proud of the work that each organization brings to the table and how we’ve been able to manage moving together as one unit, and have a voice and people feel safe knowing that someone is advocating for them in partnership with NAACP and other organizations,” he said.

For more information, see:

Orange County 2024 Hate Crime Report (PDF) https://ceo.oc.gov/sites/ceo/files/2025-12/2024%20Hate%20Crime%20Report%20FINAL%2012.31.25_V2.pdf

Orange County Black Solidarity Network (OCBSN) https://ocblacksolidaritynetwork.org https://unhateoc.org/

California’s Stop the Hate program (CDSS) https://cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss-programs/civil-rights/care-funding

Stop the Hate Program Story https://stopthehateca.org/our-story/