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YWCA readies clients for census

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Kerri Parker, executive director of the YWCA of Rock County, talks with Miguel Carrasco of Janesville about the 2010 census.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Janesville YWCA Executive Director Kerri Parker talks about the 2010 Census with Miguel Carrasco of Janesville.

JANESVILLE — Carrie Parker, who spoke little Spanish, tried to explain the importance of the 2010 census to Miguel A. Carrasco, who spoke little English.

"Crusita spoke with you about the census and how the U.S. government counts citizens and counts residents?" she asked.

"Just a little bit. Yes. But I don't know much," the 43-year-old Janesville man answered.

"They do this count every 10 years," Parker explained further, "and one issue they've had is not doing a good job of counting people of color—counting people who are Latinos or African-Americans and people who are poor or homeless—because it's harder to reach them. So the census—the government—is trying to find ways to do a better job."

The YWCA of Rock County is trying to help.

Parker is executive director of the YWCA, which operates the Immigrant Outreach Program.

Carrasco is a client of the program, and Crusita Barrios is the leader.

"We're trying to help people learn about it so when the government comes to the door, they're not afraid to answer questions," Parker said.

Carrasco said he'd like to help but told Parker many people are scared and worry something bad might happen if they open the door and answer a census worker's questions.

Parker tried to reassure him.

"The census worker is not someone with the power to get someone in trouble," she said. "It won't bring the policia."

The YWCA is trying to talk to and share information with Carrasco and other clients to help them understand the census so they and other minorities get counted, Parker said.

Census importance

The YWCA hopes to spread the message to all 3,000 of its clients—40 percent of whom are people of racial or ethnic minority groups.

The Y is spreading the word in a variety of ways. The census will be a topic of five special programs. It will be brought up in one-on-one conversations, in groups, during English classes and during client meetings with caseworkers. It will be put on posters and spread through word of mouth.

"The trick is we don't have specific funding to do this work at this point and time. But because of its importance, we want to make sure we incorporate it into everything we do. We consider this a racial justice advocacy issue.

"If a group is undercounted, it can have huge ramifications in lots of little ways," Parker said.

Census impact

Every year after the 2010 census is taken, more than $300 billion in federal funds will be awarded to states and communities based on its data.

"That's more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period," according to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site.

While the national undercount of the entire population is historically about 1.75 percent, undercounts in the Hispanic population were estimated to be 5 percent in the 1990 census, Parker said.

That can have a big impact on a nonprofit organization such as the YWCA, which gets about 15 percent of its funding from government grants, Parker said.

"Every single grant application has a request for demographic information. If we're not accurately counting the proportion in our community that is in a certain demographic group—whether race, ethnicity, age or income—then we're not getting an accurate snapshot, and it's much harder to target resources where they are needed most," she said.

Parker said the census also provides a self-check for the YWCA.

"We'll look at results and ask if we are proportionally serving the people who need help."

While advocating for participation in the census, the YWCA hopes to build community partnerships.

"I've reached out to a couple organizations already who might be interested in pursuing similar avenues so we don't have five organizations in the community developing outreach materials," Parker said.

"As much as we are a social service and membership organization, it costs money to do the work we do," Parker said.

"If we are to continue serving the people of our community, we need to make sure the organization is financially healthy and that we secure any funds available to do our work."