Local organizations are taking part in a Census Caravan this weekend to urge communities with low response rates to get counted now, as part of the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund’s 2020 Census Week of Action.
In order to reach hard-to-count communities, organizations who have received grants to help boost census participation will head up a caravan Saturday, making its way through the Bakersfield and Lamont areas.
The caravan of cars will start at 4 p.m. at the corner of Haley St. and University Ave. and travel through various communities in east Bakersfield, some with response rates as low as 37.3 percent, compared to Kern’s response rate of 54.1 percent as of Wednesday. The caravan of cars will then resume in Lamont at 6 p.m and travel through the farmworker communities of Woods and Weedpatch.
The goal is to inform residents that it is not too late for families to be counted and can do so online, by phone or by mail.
Historically, communities of color including, Black, Laitno, Sikj, and Filipino have been historically undercounted, if these communities are not counted the implications are vast. Census data determines the allocation of over $685 billion over the next ten years, if one person is missed that person is missed for the next 10 years.
Residents who wish to complete their Census questionnaire online can visit, my2020census.gov [my2020census.gov] or call the U.S Census Bureau directly in English: 844-330-2020 or Spanish: 844-468-2020.
