B.P. Brewer announces Complete Count Committee, $50,000 for program to ensure underrepresented communities are fully counted in 2020 Census

USANEWSONLINE.COM DESK, NEW YORK – Today Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Deputy Borough President Aldrin R. Bonilla led the first meeting of the Manhattan Complete Count Committee, an effort designed to ensure everyone in Manhattan is counted in the 2020 Census. The Committee includes leaders from labor groups, non-profits, business groups, and others.

Brewer and Bonilla also launched a first-of-its-kind funding initiative, dubbed ‘Manhattan Counts,’ for creative solutions to reach undercounted groups.

“Cities like ours, with diverse populations and large immigrant communities, have been preparing for the census for months,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “If we aren’t fully counted, we’ll be getting shortchanged in budgets and in Congress for years to come, so I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty and ensuring we’re doing all we can to make this the most successful census in New York City history.”

In the face of mounting concerns about potential Census undercounts, Brewer is allocating $50,000 to community based organizations with creative projects to count historically undercounted communities. The application for Manhattan Counts launches today, more details can be found online here.

The results of each decennial U.S. Census have far-reaching consequences both for political representation and federal funding distribution in every city and state. Census population counts are a factor in federal support for everything from education to healthcare, law enforcement, transportation and more.

Background:

Aldrin Rafael Bonilla was the Director of the 2000 Census in Washington Heights and Inwood, where he conducted trainings and provided technical assistance and support to Census Complete Count efforts.  His district was ranked #1 in NYC in terms of the mail response rate and non-response follow-up enumeration.  

A diverse group of New Yorkers will join Borough President Brewer’s Complete Count Committee, including:

Association for a Better New York
Archdiocese – Alianza Dominicana
Asian American Federation
Asian Americans for Equality
Battery Park City Authority
BetaNYC
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese
Charles H. Revson Foundation
Community Boards 1-12
Community Education Council 5
Community Service Society of New York
Columbia University
CUNY – Center for Urban Research
CUNY – Chancellor’s Office
Department of Education
Frederick E. Samuel Resident Association (New York City Housing Authority)
Fulton Houses Resident Association (New York City Housing Authority)
Jewish Association for Services – Aged
Malcolm Shabazz Mosque
NAACP New York State Conference
National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
New York Presbyterian
New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce
Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
NY Community trust
NY Public Library
NY Urban League
NYC Council Member Carlina Rivera
Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Office of the Mayor
Pace University
Ryan Health
SOMOS Community Care
United Neighborhood Houses
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney
U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler
Women Creating Change. Press Release.