Public health and safety is absolutely critical at this moment of uncertainty in our world. But we must also fulfill our constitutional obligation to complete the 2020 Census and count every single person in the United States. For each person not counted, we lose out on $1,800 of annual federal funding. The Census is easy, confidential, and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. Did you know you can complete your census online, or on the phone? Check out www.2020census.gov/en/
Our kids need vital services like WIC, Medicaid, school lunches, foster care, special education and so much more. Census data directs dollars to all of these important community services. Our kids deserve the best we have to offer. That’s why we need to count them.
• The Census is for everyone and it’s easy. Everyone matters with the Census. All populations count – immigrants, minorities, seniors, the homeless, babies, teens, people in jail – everyone! All people living in the same household should be counted. You don’t need to be related, a permanent citizen or over 18 to be counted.
• The Census asks fewer questions than a social media profile. The questions are simple: age, name, gender, birthday, race/ethnicity, relationship to head-of-household, owner or renter and phone number. The few minutes it will take to answer the questions equals millions of dollars to our community for vital services and programs. Don’t let the services we need leave our community.
• By law everything you share stays confidential. No other government agencies will see your answers, including ICE, the FBI and CIA, police, landlords, the IRS or any other agency.
• Complete the Census online or home or anywhere there’s internet access – on your phone, at the library, at a coffee shop, at your local nonprofit. Tell your family and friends too – the Census is important to us! The process is easy. You can respond online, by phone or mail. Also, the Census is secure, with strong cyber-security measures to protect your information.
• The Census creates a better future. Census data is used for 10 years to decide local funding. There’s a lot of money at stake. In our area, each person equals about $1,800 a year in funding. In Michigan almost half of our funding comes from the federal government. If you don’t get counted, we risk losing vital services in Midland/Bay/Isabella/Saginaw (tailor by county).
