On April 1, 2010, over 300 million U.S. residents, citizens and non-citizens alike, will be counted. Once collected, this information is used to determine how over $400 billion dollars in federal funding will be allocated to communities around the country. Resources include funding for healthcare, schools, transportation, job training, senior centers and emergency services.
Be counted — let people know you are out there. The Census is a portrait of us all.
The Afghan Coalition wants to ensure that Afghans in the Bay Area are counted in Census 2010 because local Afghan populations constitute an undercounted population. In past U.S. Census counts, Afghans have either not been counted or generally counted as as Caucasian or Asian.
The news media oftentimes highlight that more Afghans live in Southern Alameda County, particularly Fremont, than anywhere outside of Afghanistan. Yet journalists have difficulty citing a specific population figure. Estimates have varied from 15, 000 to 50,000 in Alameda County alone.
Furthermore, according to Civilrights.org (where you can download a train-the-trainer toolkit), the Census is important for documenting the growth of immigrant communities, allocating resources for needed services, and identifying areas where civil rights enforcement may be needed.
Immigrant communities are at higher risk for being undercounted and require special attention to ensure an accurate count. Community-based organizations like the Afghan Coalition can play a key role in helping immigrants understand the importance of being counted and overcoming reluctance to participate. Finally, some immigrants, including Afghans, do not understand how U.S. systems work, are not English-proficient and may not feel comfortable with sharing personal information.
With support from the San Francisco Foundation, the Afghan Coalition is helping community members:
1) Understand the importance of the Census
2) Understand that it safe to participate in the Census
3) Understand the specific questions on the questionnaire
5) Know how to self-select by checking the “some other race” box and entering a specific population group, such as “Afghan”
6) Fill out and return the questionnaire by April 1, 2010
Multilingual staff and volunteers who speak Dari, Pashto, Urdu and English are available to help and will be providing one-on-one assistance in the Afghan Coalition offices from January through March 2010 and in community settings.
Read more about Bay Area grantmakers that are funding Census outreach efforts for undercounted populations in the Contra Costa Times.