Hot Tips from Samaritan Ministry: The 2020 Census!

An accurate account for all households is necessary for fairly distributing federal funding for programs like transportation, employment, healthcare, housing and representation in Congress.

2020 Census shortened

· The US Census Bureau recently announced that the deadline for completing the 2020 Census was changed to September 30, one month earlier than expected.

· As of August 6, D.C.’s self-response rate was ~60%, and Maryland and Virginia’s response rates were ~67%. This means that roughly 1 in 3 households in the DMV area have not yet been counted.

Census takers and self-responses

Census Takers (enumerators) have begun going door-to-door to count residents. Residents can continue to self-respond online or by phone before an enumerator visits to:

Get counted at your own pace on your own time

Lighten the load on enumerators going door-to-door during a pandemic

Improve the local response rate- getting an accurate account is necessary for a local area to get its fair share of resources

Who should be counted? Everyone Counts!

The U.S. Constitution says the Census counts everyone living in the United States.

That includes every immigrant, every child, every neighbor, every roommate and every student.

Everyone deserves to be counted and no one should be left out. There is no citizenship question on the 2020 Census. Answers will not be shared with law enforcement or other government agencies.

taking the census takes only a few minutes. here’s how: · Online:  Go to my2020census.gov. Non-English speakers can select a different language at the bottom of the page.

Phone:  Call 844-330-2020 for English, 844-468-2020 for Spanish, or use these phone numbers to take the Census in 12 other languages.

· Mail:   If you received a paper copy by mail, just fill it out, place it in the envelope provided and drop it in a mailbox.

· In Person: At Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) stations in local parks, outside grocery stores, at farmers markets and in neighborhoods where self-response to the 2020 Census has been low.