SELA Collaborative Rallies Around Census Push with Regional Partners

LOS ANGELES - Aug. 27, 2020 - PRLog -- The Southeast Los Angeles Collaborative (SELA Collaborative) along with other Southeast LA community based organizations and city partners held a wide scaled amplification of the Census Wednesday August 26th, 2020. Efforts included car caravans, phone and text banking, neighborhood canvasing and mobile help stations where residents could fill out their Census using kiosks. The event was designed to energize communities around the Census and help residents get counted.

Participating Census partners included the Cities of Huntington Park, Bell Gardens, and South Gate, along with SELA Members AltaMed Health Services, Council of Mexican Federations in North America (COFEM), Human Services Association, Southeast Community Development Corporation, community partner Latino Equality Alliance, Office of Assembly member Anthony Rendon and the US Census Bureau.

"The urgency to get communities counted is even more serious given the Census Bureau's announcement to move up the deadline and the deep impact the pandemic has had on our outreach strategies," said SELA Collaborative Associate Director Cynthia Cortez. "We have learned how to engage communities remotely and now we need to safely reach community on the ground and help them get counted."

The We Count LA Campaign, led by California Community Foundation has uplifted the need to serve our hardest-to-count populations with messaging and community engagement activities that reassures them that the Census is safe, easy, and important. Given the undeniable commitment and nimbleness of Southeast LA's Census outreach partners which consists of community-based organizations, cities, elected offices, schools, grassroot groups and small businesses, response rates in the region have been continuously increasing.

Southeast LA has been heavily impacted by the novel coronavirus pandemic with undeniable economic impacts across the region on both personal and community-wide levels. As SELA Census outreach partners intensify partnered efforts for the last month of the Census campaign, directly reaching the hardest-of the-hardest-to-count is a priority.

Jennie Carreon, Associate VP of Civic Engagement from AltaMed Health Services and a SELA Collaborative member agrees. "It is imperative that we get everyone in SELA to fill out their Census to protect vital services that our community members depend on." Her team has offered training videos and equipment to assist organizations in their Census outreach efforts.

The Census can be completed online my2020census.gov, by phone (844-330-2020) or by completing the paper form mailed to each residence.

The Southeast LA region is in need of volunteers to help ensure our Census pop up booths can help our community get counted. Please reach out to Alejandra Aleman, aaleman@selacollab.org, if you are interested in volunteering to ensure all residents in Southeast LA get counted.