Residents, Staff, and Board Ensure Everyone is Counted
Promoting civic engagement in under-represented communities has been a priority for Home City Development Inc. (HCDI) in this critical time. Residents, staff, and board members have been diligently working all summer to ensure that the resident community is registered to vote, and that they are counted in the 2020 census. These efforts are in part a result of a Diversity Committee with a Civic Subcommittee that was created in support of the Black Lives Matter movement by Housing Management Resources (HMR), HCDI’s partner. These committees have been created all over the Eastern Seaboard to ensure that urban voices with less access to information are counted and heard, and HCDI’s Springfield communities are no exception. Efforts included working with Neighbor to Neighbor knocking on doors to register residents to vote, as well as working with Census 2020, tabling at three of HCDI’s larger properties.
“It’s important for everyone to be counted,” HCDI resident youth leader Agnes Frias said when asked why she was motivated to support the tabling efforts, “It helps with funding for the neighborhood, schools, it helps in a lot of ways that people don’t realize.”
“Western Mass already has the problem of regional economic disparities in health care and homelessness,” Adam Gomez, HCDI board member, Springfield Ward 1 City Councilor, and candidate for Hampden District State Senate said. “We need to get counted so we can get funding for programs.” He was frustrated for this region when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was undercounted in 2010 and lost a congressional seat as a result.
“Urban populations with less access to information are chronically undercounted,” Resident Engagement Manager Carol Soules explained, “which ends up in a whole decade of less resources for the community.” The 2020 Census results will in fact help to determine how hundreds of billions of dollars will be utilized for the next decade. That funding shapes aspects of every community, no matter the size or the location.
“The [census] paper has been sitting on my table for a long time, I’ve been going by it, going by it!” HCDI resident Marylis Correa laughed and exclaimed after completing the census at the Tapley Court table. “It’s been there for months since the summer started! If it wasn’t for [this census table] I wouldn’t have done it.” She was also relieved to know that sensitive information like her social security number wasn’t needed. The census table gave her a safe place to ask questions and understand the process.
In addition to HMR’s civic subcommittee work, residents and board members have been hustling to ensure that our communities’ voices are represented.
Gomez has been tabling for the census as well as voter registration since June, when restrictions were loosened enough that he could get out into the community. “Some people don’t have cable or social media, if we don’t go to their homes, they wouldn’t know the importance of the census.” He’s been out every day since June and plans to continue through October. “We have been tabling in veteran communities, in black and brown communities…it will be detrimental to our district if we are undercounted.”
And Frias described her efforts while attending Fitchburg State “This is similar to what I do on campus.” Frias is on two student government organizations and they have been helping people to register to vote and complete the census since the spring. “We’ve been advertising all summer on our [personal] social media platforms to help students get out and vote…fill out the census…and let their families know.” Frias explained why she sees this as such a critical project in her school and in her neighborhood. “Whatever you want to see happen, you have to voice that.” She emphasized that registering to vote and completing the census are critical ways to be seen and heard.
The census is ending a month early this year — on September 30th. If you haven’t completed your census form yet, go to 2020census.gov.