By Nicole Sandler
Northside News
The last issue of the Northside News included an informative article about Census 2020 and its importance to our community. Authored by Charisse Johnson, the Northside Planning Council’s Census 2020 Coordinator, the story explained why the census matters and why each of us needs to be counted. Johnson also described plans by the steering committee to hire and train a team of community outreach workers to support the effort.
In this follow up article about Census 2020 on the Northside, we’re excited to share more about the outreach team (in this issue you’ll find short profiles on each of the seven members). Why do they wish to take part in this once-in-a-decade initiative to count every individual on the Northside? Who initially encouraged them to take note of this unique opportunity and apply to be a census outreach worker?
Johnson played a significant role in hiring the outreach team. According to her, the seven individuals chosen are young in age overall — five are in high school and two are young adults — yet together they reflect the demographics of the Northside, which was important to the steering committee.
“We anticipate they’ll be key in relating with the community, as we need to connect with a number of different cultures and neighborhoods,” said Johnson. “We believe this group has their fingers on the pulse of what is happening on the Northside.”
The job opportunity was posted by the Northside Planning Council last fall at local libraries and community centers, and it offers a salary of $15 per hour. Outreach will require approximately 3‒6 hours of work each week through April. It will involve more than canvassing neighborhoods and asking people to fill out the census. The team will host and attend outreach events, disseminate information, answer questions and even help people fill out their census forms.
Johnson couldn’t be more pleased by the response to this opportunity and the team of seven that was hired. “Our decisions were influenced by the skills that these applicants claimed they hoped to gain through their experience as census outreach workers in our community,” she said.
Their diverse backgrounds, along with their unified commitment, maturity and enthusiasm for the work ahead, were apparent at a recent gathering of the outreach team. They were eager to answer questions about how they first learned about the opportunity and what inspired them to apply.
One common theme that emerged is that certain adults important in their lives passed along information about the invitation to apply. A parent, a teacher, a mentor, an employer — these supportive figures serve as catalysts in the lives of these teens and young adults. What followed for many of the applicants was the desire to learn more about the position, conduct research about the importance of the census, and ultimately apply for the position.
The group also shared similar thoughts around what they hope to gain from the experience. Each welcomes the opportunity to deepen their connection to the Northside community, develop their leadership skills, and impact lives through involvement in the census.
Dominic, the oldest of the team, has years of experience working in the public library system and perhaps a more focused understanding of the role he can play as a census outreach worker. “I see this as a chance to help strengthen the neighborhood and build trust within the community,” he said. “I also hope the process will lead people to have more positive interactions with bureaucracy.”
One of the youngest members of the team, Dina, recently moved to the Northside from her native country of Iraq. For her, the opportunity to get out into the community is more symbolic in nature. “I want to experience how different it is here compared to my country where girls work only inside their homes,” she said. “I want to change this and show that girls can do so much more.”
The Northside’s census outreach team is poised to do important work as Census 2020 launches, and we are fortunate to have them working in our community to ensure that the Northside counts.
Remember, the census will be available online for the first time ever. You should receive an official invitation to complete the census in mid-March. Be sure to look for notices about community events where you can ask questions about the process and receive support with online completion.