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If you get involved in one volunteer activity this year, make it the Census. The Census happens every 10 years, and is critical to the way the United States government disburses dollars and invests in programs for communities around the country. There’s ~$675 billion dollars allocated based on Census data every year.
So why get involved in volunteering with the Census?
Underrepresented neighborhoods are drastically undercounted in Census data. In 2010, Brooklyn had the lowest count of census responses of any larger county in the country (62% vs the national average of 77%. And in some neighborhoods, it’s less than 50%.) Approximately one million children were not counted in 2010 census meaning many communities don’t get adequate resources for programs like Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Head Start, Title 1 Funding for schools, and the WIC nutrition program.
You can see how your neighborhood responded in 2010 by clicking here.
The Census requires an army of people. The city is looking for volunteers in 245 different neighborhoods across the five boroughs. The Census Bureau itself needs to hire about 500,000 people as Census takers. In New York, they just raised the hourly payment from $25 to $28 in the hopes of attracting more workers.
The easiest way to get involved in NYC is by joining your Neighborhood Organizing Census Committee (NOOC) as a volunteer.
NYC and NY State are working together and spending upwards of $100 million dollars to ensure an accurate count. The city has already distributed $20 million dollars to 150 organizations to help organize communities and recruit volunteers to work neighborhood by neighborhood and educate people about the Census.
One of the major challenges of the Census is the fear associated with providing information to the government. Though this is understandable, answers can’t be shared with any other agencies under federal law, and bureau staff are sworn to confidentiality and subject to a $250K fine and/or up to 5 years in prison for wrongful disclosure of information. Collected Census data will not be released until 72 years from now.
If you plan on getting involved, please let me know!
(By the way, this is the first year the Census can be completed online, in addition to phone or by mail so it’s never been easier. You can pledge to take the census here.)
Check out some of my recent volunteer activities around NYC on my blog:
Reading to kids at PS 130 with New York Cares
Rescuing Food with Rescuing Leftover Cuisine for YWCA Brooklyn
HOPE (Homeless Outreach Population Estimate) Survey
Want to get involved in volunteering outside of the Census?
A great place to start is New York Cares. You can search volunteer events by day, time, borough and even your subway line.
Or, just respond to this email and I’d be happy to help find an organization that matches your interests.