MACON, Ga. —
The State Complete Count Committee says they're concerned about people not filling out the Census in Macon-Bibb County.
41% of Macon-Bibb County had filled out the Census as of Sunday. The county is behind the overall state response rate of 49%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“That's not good for Macon-Bibb, because we know there's a lot of under-counted populations in Macon-Bibb,” said Lori Geary, marketing director for the state Complete Count Committee. “The minority populations could really benefit from some of the programs that run on Census data. You're talking about WIC; you're talking about SNAP. You're talking about free school lunches, medicare funding, healthcare funding.”
That's why the local Complete Count committee is doing what they can to increase the response rate and explain the importance of the Census. But the hold-up is COVID-19.
“Especially with the things like not being able to go out and host community events so people can come physically to you. So that adds a different barrier,” said Sheknita Davis, a volunteer with the Urban Complete Count Committee.
In March, the U.S. Census Bureau temporarily suspended field operations like workers going door to door. Now, it's even more difficult to count those hard-to-count groups.
“Individuals living in poverty, African Americans, African American men, children under five are traditionally under-counted and don't participate in the Census. It's part of the hard-to-count population,” Davis said.
So Davis and the Urban Complete County Committee got creative by using social media to reach out to those groups.
“While people are at home, what we try to do is host a virtual community chat,” Davis said. “So we're strategizing in different ways for people to understand the Census is important.”
Davis says the committee will hold another virtual community chat on April 30. They’re also planning a virtual online block party and an event with the food bank.
Though they can't reach people in person right now, the committee plans to reach as many as possible through social media. The hope is that their outreach will create a snowball effect and get more people to fill out the Census for themselves.
Lori Geary with the state Complete Count Committee says if you don't want Census workers showing up at your door around August, go ahead and fill it now.
You can do it online or over the phone. The website is www.my2020census.gov. The phone number is 1-844-330-2020.
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