Speaking at the launch of the “Be Counted” drive to mazimize participation in the 2020 Census is Rep. Tyrone Carter of Detroit. Shown, left to right, are Donna Murray-Brown, CEO/President of Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA); Hassan Jaber, President/CEO of Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and chair of the MNA committee; Rep. Julie Calley of Portland; Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist; and Michigan Statewide Census Director Kerry Ebersole Singh. Not shown is Assistant Secretary of State Heaster Wheeler, who was late because he had to drive from Detroit in very bad weather.
– PHOTO BY CYNTHIA PRICE
By Cynthia Price
Perhaps the best way to say it is as Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich of Flint did at last Wednesday’s launch of Be Counted, a statewide drive to urge everyone to answer the census: “Everyone in Flint wins if everyone in Flint is counted.”
Or, more pertinently, “Everyone in Michigan wins if everyone in Michigan is counted.”
The effects of the numbers and demographics developed as a result of the every-ten-year census of residents is far-reaching; everything from how many Congressional representatives the state has to how (and if) federal monies are distributed depends on them.
As Rep. Julie Calley from Portland, whose husband was the former lieutenant governor, said at the launch, “In Michigan, 42% of the state’s budget relies on federal funding that is distributed to Michigan communities annually based on census data.”
The Be Counted campaign, a partnership between the Michigan Nonprofit Association, the state, and the U.S. Census Bureau, is an unprecedented effort, funded by the state to the tune of $16 million, and additionally by a variety of foundations which are members of the Council on Michigan Foundations. The City of Detroit, according to Rep. Tyrone Carter, who spoke at the launch in Lansing, is also intending to raise $3 million to promote census engagement.
Carter noted that he went to an event recently where someone said to him, “I don’t trust certain people.” That is not hard to understand, when, for example, the current administration was only stopped from putting a question about citizenship on the form by a court order.
Kerry Ebersole Singh, the Michigan Statewide Census Director, said that Michigan was fifth in the nation with 78% participation in the last census, but partners want to increase that.
Historically, people experiencing poverty and/or with little Internet access, both urban and rural, have been undercounted. The campaign will focus on 10 previously undercounted counties, including Washtenaw, Wayne, Kent, and nearby Ottawa. Muskegon is not one of them.
There will be TV and radio ads (Singh said she has “always wanted a jingle” and the radio ad has one), town halls, and Q&A centers at libraries and Health and Human Services offices.
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