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Time is running dangerously short on the 2020 Census. If Miami-Dade County doesn’t bring our extreme low response more in line with reality, we all will suffer with a reduction of funding and services that will decimate us for the next decade.
We need all county residents counted to secure our fair share of funding. As things stand right now, that is not happening. At month’s start, we were 40% short of the full count. Door-to-door canvassing will end in September, so the chances are even greater of an undercount that will cost us billions of dollars.
If just one percent of our community is undercounted, we could lose $40 million in annual federal funding and nearly $400 million over ten years for key programs in education, health, housing, transportation and more. This funding is crucial as we work to recover from the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The census is also used to determine our community’s representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Without an accurate count, we could lose representation when we should be gaining congressional seats.
Filling out the census is your chance to ensure that our federal tax dollars serve our community and your response will make a difference between now and 2030. It only takes a few minutes of your time to complete the census questionnaire. You can complete the census online at my2020census.gov, or you can call and do it over the telephone before the closing deadline on September 30. To complete in English, call 844-330-2020; Spanish, call 844-468-2020; and Haitian Creole, call 844-477-2020.
The importance of the 2020 Census should be enough to spur everyone to participate, but it is also incumbent on individuals to view it as part of our social responsibility. Please stand up, be counted, and do your part, so our community, county, state and this country get the most accurate information about its current population.
If you have already submitted your information, help and encourage your relatives, neighbors and friends to participate. Remember, everyone counts!
By: James R. Haj, president and CEO of The Children’s Trust; Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation; Maria C. Alonso, president and CEO of United Way of Miami-Dade; Steven E. Marcus, president and CEO of Health Foundation of South Florida
