United Way Announces $395k in Grants for 2020 Census Outreach

Next year, efforts will begin to get people counted in the once-every-10-years census.

Austin area leaders have said that some of the hardest to count communities, including undocumented immigrants, minorities and young children and seniors are best reached through local nonprofits and social services agencies, rather than by government officials, since they work with these communities every day and have established trust.

On Thursday (December 12th), the United Way for Greater Austin announced $395,000 in grant money to 17 of these local organizations, which will help with the census count in Central Texas.

Recipients include the Austin Community College District, Austin Area Urban League (Austin, TX),the city of Austin’s Housing Authority, the Bastrop County Food Pantry and the People’s Community Clinic, among others, for grants ranging from $5,000 to $59,000. The money will be used for such things as educational materials, door-to-door canvassing, translation services and setting up on-site portals where people will be able to fill out the census form while accessing services.

The census helps determine how more than $900 billion in federal money is allocated each year for such things as health care, housing vouchers, education and transportation infrastructure. Officials estimate even a 1% undercount could result in a loss of millions of dollars to Texas.

“It’s important that this coalition of funders came together and selected organizations that have community credibility,” said Quincy Dunlap with the Austin Area Urban League, which will reach out to the region’s black and Hispanic communities. “That, paired with putting out the right information, will help people become more comfortable and trusting of the process.”

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