Across Chicago, community organizations are counting themselves in for outreach leading up to Census Day on April 1.
The U.S. Census, the national population count that takes place every 10 years, is used to determine adequate funding, resources and congressional representation to serve every resident for the next decade. For government agencies and service organizations – including the Greater Chicago Food Depository – that receive support through federal programs, resources are allocated based on the populations served. An incorrect count in Cook County, caused by a lack of participation, could drastically diminish how much is made available for community members seeking a wide array of public services. These services range from food assistance to housing. La Casa Norte, one of the Food Depository’s partners in Census outreach, serves youth and families experiencing homelessness in Humboldt Park and Back of the Yards. Both of those neighborhoods have been deemed “hard-to-count” by the U.S. Census Bureau, meaning that for a variety of reasons residents may be less likely to participate. Part of La Casa Norte’s offerings include a community food pantry and hot meal program, for which it receives support from the Food Depository.AmeriCorps VISTA member Ryan Maia (left) and La Casa Norte’s community engagement coordinator Rebecca Sumner Burgos. Maia and Sumner Burgos are working on the organization’s Census outreach efforts.
“To create a brighter future for the communities that we serve, we’re counting on the people that we serve to participate in the Census.”Q: What efforts have you already made around Census engagement, and what do you plan to do in the coming months? RSB: I’ve been working with councils, like the Greater Chicago Food Depository Census Council, and with the local U.S. Census Bureau office just to educate myself, and we do distribute informational materials during our food pantry and hot meal program. We have a captive audience here on Mondays and Wednesdays for food distributions, so we’re working to have Census job recruiters come in and speak, and I’m still strategizing about holding – if we can get enough access to computers – a Census filling-out session. I also hope to invite Census officials to come speak to our youth at our drop-in center and our transitional housing program because all of those are young people who need to be empowered and can make a difference. There’s a part of me that is like, what can we do to really sit down with people and help them fill it out? Because it can be really tedious and boring. And a lot of low-income people have more pressing issues or a lack of time as they’re looking for the resources they need, than to sit down and do one more bureaucratic thing. So there’s gotta be a way to make it culturally relevant, maybe make an activity or celebration around it. RM: And meeting people where they are, when they’re there, which is why we think that food pantries, emergency food providers and social service providers have such a strong and important role. Learn more about the 2020 Census and how you can help.