It's Census time
It affects every single person in the nation: the Census. It happens every 10 years, and after a very lengthy break, it’s back.
Executive director of the N.C. Counts Coalition, Stacey Carless, describes the Census as a count of every single resident in the United States. This coalition is dedicated to making sure that everyone, especially those in typically undercounted communities, are accounted for.
Counting “every single resident” sounds inclusive, but the problem is that not everyone is being counted.
"It could be several different reasons," Carless said. "Sometimes it’s just misinformation — Not quite sure as to why the government is in my house? Why are you asking me these questions?”
Currently, North Carolina is allocated about $16 billion in federal funds. When areas are undercounted, communities begin to miss out on these funds. Money that would go to things such as repairing roads and building schools is lost. Additionally, the state could face less representation in the House of Representatives.
Counting every single person regardless of age, location, citizenship status and so on is hard work. A group of East Carolina University students has decided to help.
They are on spring break, and instead of hitting the beach and relaxing with their feet in the sand, they’ve decided to hit the pavement in South East Raleigh. They’re Census ambassadors, which means that they canvass through various neighborhoods in town and gauge people’s knowledge of the Census in an effort to make sure everyone gets counted on April 1.
Faith Worsley is one of these students and says, “I’m doing this to make things better. I decided to do this for my spring break because I felt like I’ve been a citizen but I haven’t been the best citizen I can be.”
In this moment, being the best citizen Worsley can be means that she’s assuring community members that they have nothing to worry about and their voice will not be used against them.
“They need to know that the census helps out their community and the economic system," Worsley said.
One resident named Abraham says he knows this and just wants the best for his neighbors.
“The Census all over the world is very important. And I would very much encourage those people to participate in those forms,” he says.
Encouragement, that’s really all some people need. By visiting one home after another, these students are doing exactly that.
