The TRENDS podcast is a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Boulder County and KGNU. It dives deep into the community’s most pressing issues and explores the changes happening throughout Boulder County through the experiences of community members, especially those often rendered invisible by commercial media, to shed light on community challenges, solutions, and pathways forward for the county and the country.

Listen to the Census 2020 TRENDS podcast episode below:

Resources:  ● Boulder Census Info ● Longmont Census Info ● El Comite de Longmont

2020 is an important year.  In November, voters will have their voices heard in the Presidential election, senate races and on many local issues. But people can also have their voices heard before the election even begins…  and that is by being counted in the census.

However, not everyone wants to share their information with the government. While recent attempts to get a citizenship question included in the census were struck down in the courts, a feeling of distrust remains among certain communities.

With so much at stake, local groups are mobilizing to reach out to communities that have been historically undercounted to let them know the importance of taking part.

This time on the TRENDS podcast, a collaboration between KGNU and the Community Foundation of Boulder County, we take a look at local efforts to mobilize people to take part in the 2020 census.

Peggy Leech of the League of Women Voters of Boulder County is one of the co-chairs of the Boulder County Nonprofit Complete County Committee, one of four countywide Complete Count Committees.

“Colorado currently has seven representatives to Congress, says Leech. “It’s widely expected that our population has grown enough to where we’ll have eight representatives.”

There is also a lot of money at stake in the census says Chris Barge of the Community Foundation of Boulder County.

“There are 55 sources of federal funding that make their way into Boulder County, and this works out to about $2,300 per person per year. You multiply that by 10 years and you’re talking about $23,000 in federal funding allocation for every Boulder County resident.”

“[The census] leads to a tremendous amount of resources for all of us, from medical and emergency services to transportation and more funding for schools and school lunches,” says Ari Gerzon-Kessler, the Director of Equity and Partnerships at BVSD.

According to Gerzon-Kessler, “it really has ripples across our whole society in Boulder County and everywhere.”

 

BVSD passed a resolution in September that made a strong commitment to encouraging all community members to participate in the census.

Census PSA (Spanish) from JOHN WILLIAMS on Vimeo.

At Boulder High School, Samantha Ibarra, Alison Aredondo Arellano and Paola Garcia Barron members of the Zonta or Z Club, have produced videos in English and Spanish to educate the Latinx community on the importance of the census.

She adds that in previous years, “many Latinos weren’t aware of what the census was and how they can get involved.”

Another group that is often undercounted are those experiencing homelessness.

Scott Medina of the Bridge House in Boulder says it’s important to count this community as it is a recognition of their humanity.