April 30, 2020 | Jennifer Velazquez | UC Irvine
With previous Census outreach experience, I wanted to go ahead and advocate for Census participation within the UC community through UCSA. I have previously attended 2020 Census workshops that educated me on how to engage public organizations with local residents to promote and create awareness. I have facilitated small discussions with Orange County non-profits to discuss potential events to target our hard-to-count groups and share ideas on how to reduce the participation gap amongst them. The Census partnership that my public-sector job has exposed me to utilize our public sources to reach local residents. The City of Tustin has allowed me to share Census outreach posts and plan Questionnaire Assistance Kiosks in our local senior and youth centers. As a future City Planner, I understand the importance of getting everyone counted to provide adequate housing developments. The data that is gathered from the Census questionnaire also provides jurisdictions with an understanding of how many more public transit services are needed and how many schools cities must plan for.
It is essential that all students and faculty are counted for to receive an adequate distribution of federal funds that will provide social services and health care. Census data helps determine how much funding will go into campus programs and how much in grants will be offered. My UC campus was extremely undercounted in the last Census and knowing that the UC community has large hard-to-count populations, encouraged me to help spread the word. First generation, LGBT, and Dreamers are some of the HTC populations within our diverse UC community that need more representation.
As a first-generation Latina, I understand that minorities may fear participating in the Census due to the citizenship question. It is our responsibility to educate our communities and assure them that no citizenship question will be asked and that all personal information is protected under the federal law. For some of my family members this is their first Census ever and they don’t know what the data is used for and why they are required to fill it out. Many others may be in a similar situation and that is why it is crucial to educate fellow UC students. If our UC students are informed, then they will be able to educate their families and encourage participation.
As an intern for UCSA, I was able to reach out to campus leaders and organizations to help promote Census participation through their social media outlets. This opportunity allowed me to share the importance of the Census and educate fellow UC students on the benefits of receiving funds and representation. I am glad that I was able to help spread such an important message that I plan to continue to share with others after my term with UCSA.