If you’d like to join the effort, donate now to our fund, and tell everyone you know to go to 2020census.gov starting March 13, and spend 10 minutes answering 10 questions that will impact our community for 10 years to come.
By Chris Barge, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives
For three days this spring, Scott Medina and a team of formerly homeless staff and volunteers will fan across Boulder County, helping ensure everyone experiencing homelessness is counted in the 2020 Census.
“It’s an equalizing opportunity for all human beings to be recognized and acknowledged,” said Medina, Director of Community Relations for Bridge House. “If anything, that is most urgently needed for this population.”
The formerly homeless “cultural brokers” on his team have a lived bicultural experience that provides them an emotional understanding and empathy toward people currently experiencing homelessness. They are part of a countywide outreach team of 21 cultural brokers in all. Each cultural broker, or Census Outreach Partner, has lived experience with an historically undercounted population, such as people exeriencing homelessness, low-income residents, LGBTQ+ residents, immigrants, Spanish speakers, seniors, college students, mountain residents, people with disabilities and families with children under 5.
Each Census Outreach Partner is being hired by a local grantee organization, with funding from Community Foundation Boulder County’s Census 2020 Fund, plus other funders, including The Colorado Health Foundation, The Next 50 Initiative, Boulder County and The Department of Local Affairs.
The dicennial census of population and housing in the United States is critical. It determines political representation and federal funding allocations. This year, Colorado is expected to receive an 8th U.S. Congressional District, if enough of us are counted. Each person counted is also worth $2,300 per year in federal funding for Colorado communities.
This year, a decade of congressional underfunding of the census is on a collision course with new, untested online methodologies, anti-immigrant rhetoric from the White House, less willingness than ever by Americans to respond to any survey, and increased privacy concerns.
Your Community Foundation has now raised more than $129K, and leveraged an additional $140K from other funders to support these cultural brokers through July. Huge credit goes to all our grantees, our donors, our philanthropic services and programs teams, and our funding partners for all stepping up to make this happen.
If you’d like to join the effort, donate now to our fund, and tell everyone you know to go to 2020census.gov starting March 13, and spend 10 minutes answering 10 questions that will impact our community for 10 years to come.
Quick facts about your Community Foundation’s Census 2020 Fund
- Total raised to date: $129K
- Organizations funded or pending funding by the Community Foundation: Bridge House, Center for People with Disabilities, El Centro de Amistad, El Comité de Longmont, CU Boulder, Front Range Community College, Latino Chamber of Commerce, Out Boulder County, and Teens, Inc.
- Organizations funded by other sources: Area Agencies on Aging, Emergency Family Assistance Association, Wild Plum Center; Intercambio, and Boulder County Community Action Program
- Other funding sources: Colorado Health Foundation, Next 50 Initiative, Boulder County government, Department of Local Affairs
- Total granted by partner funders: more than $140K
- Number of cultural brokers hired or to be hired for field team: 21
