There’s a lot you can do to help your community right now, like donating to mutual-aid funds and patronizing local businesses. Another way you can help? By filling out the 2020 Census if you haven’t yet.
With the September 30 deadline looming for the US Census, members of the Census Bureau have taken to knocking on doors in neighborhoods across the city to ensure everyone has been counted. The current response rate in Lower Manhattan is hovering somewhere around 55%, which is a slight improvement since August (52%), but it’s not as good as Manhattan overall (60%). So let’s show up the other neighborhoods on the island while we still have the chance!
As a reminder, the census is more than just a little demographic survey. It’s an essential tool local and federal governments use to figure out
what and how many services their constituents need. When you fill out the census – a survey the federal government only sends out once every 10 years – you’re helping determine how much funding an area gets for health-care resources, in addition to playgrounds, schools, airports, bridges, roads, tunnels and ferries.
Not only that, utility companies use the census to calculate rate subsidies for poor, elderly or disabled customers. Decisions about the allocation of firefighting and policing rescues are also dependent on census information.
So, go to my2020census.gov and fill out the questionnaire. It only takes 10 minutes, and it’s one of the best things you can do for your community right now.
Submitted by the Downtown Alliance
