Learn from Your Peers

We only need to look back at the last two elections to see that every voice counts. The goal of our mission is to strengthen neighborhoods. Neighborhoods only become stronger when every neighbor feels like they matter and contribute to the well-being of that neighborhood.

It is like being included in the family photo. Our family is our neighborhood. We want all the family members to be in the picture.

Lorelei Pfautz
Friendly House
Davenport, Iowa

Milwaukee currently has a population of about 5,000 immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the majority of which were resettled as refugees by Jewish Family Services (JFS). … It is critical that these limited-English speaking groups participate in the 2010 census in order to increase awareness of the diversity in the United States and to identify the types of assistance needed as well as the contributions these groups make to our society.

The mission of JFS is to provide supportive services that strengthen families, children, and individuals throughout the life cycle within the context of their unique needs and traditions. Our efforts around the census relate to all aspects of the mission through our support, identification, and advocacy for families of all cultural backgrounds that are now part of the population of the United States.

Barbara Weber
Jewish Family Services
Milwaukee

Pillsbury United Communities is actively involved in the census to help reach hard to count groups, specifically illegal immigrants who may feel that it could jeopardize them. We are also involved to increase the rate of participation in communities of color. These efforts fit soundly with our mission, “creating choice, change, and connection.”

Chanda Baker
Pillsbury United Communities
Minneapolis

About 70 percent of our current service population is Asian ethnic immigrants, speaking a number of different languages and dialects. It takes an extra effort to ensure that most if not all the people in our community are counted, which is very difficult. In addition to the language and cultural barriers, many of our clients live in doubled- or tripled-up apartments, and as a result the counts are often no where near correct and accurate.

The more correct our numbers are, the better chance we have of receiving the appropriate funding for our various services. I also believe the more and better services we can provide, the faster our clients can adjust to life in the United States and become productive citizens.

Frank Modica
Hamilton-Madison House
New York

We will provide a continuous flow of information to our neighbors that will remove the fear of providing information to the census officials.

Valery De Long
Northwestern University Settlement Association
Chicago

The communities we serve have often been inaccurately represented—negatively impacting their political voice. Full participation and complete count would help in addressing this representation issue, which in turn would strengthen their political power in influencing policy and legislation.

CAPI would benefit from this involvement in terms of capturing a more accurate picture of the extent of communities’ needs vis-à-vis our mission.

CAPI’s mission is “to guide refugees and immigrants in the journey toward self-determination and social equality.” A more accurate picture of refugee and immigrant demographics would be a great help in our efforts to design, develop, and implement basic and longer-term assistance programs.

Alex Erolin
CAPI
Minneapolis

The census is all about being counted. By being counted, we can ensure that our fair share of resources is directed to Waukesha County.

When individuals are counted, $300 billion per year in federal and state funding can be fairly and accurately distributed to communities. This is money that is used for vital community resources and services like schools, housing, neighborhood improvements, transportation, and more.

Sarah Hawks
La Casa de Esperanza
Waukesha, WI