Bayside Reaches Hard-to-Count Census Populations

Federal Census data is updated every ten years and impacts nearly every sector of society. Public funding for critical services like healthcare, education, and public safety are either increased or decreased based on this data. Political representation at the congressional level is also determined by census data. Yet, a significant portion of the population remains uncounted each census.

Corey Pahanish, Ph.D. , Executive Director of Bayside Community Center speaks with KUSI about Census 2020

Corey Pahanish, Ph.D., Executive Director at Bayside Community Center, recently spoke with KUSI about hard-to-count populations. “The problem goes deeper than just losing out on critically needed resources,” Pahanish says. “When we take a closer look at who is often missing from the census count; immigrants, children, those already most vulnerable in our society, we see that the problem of missing anyone in the census really deepens the systemic challenges that distressed communities have already been enduring.”

Bayside is a member of the Count Me 2020 Census Outreach Coalition, a group of over 150 civic and community-based organizations in San Diego and Imperial counties committed to a complete and accurate census count. As such, it is using innovative strategies to reach hard-to-count populations. Rose Ceballos, Bayside’s Director of Social Services, comments, “Since many of these hard-to-count families are the same families that are experiencing food insecurity, we’re taking the opportunity to talk with them about the census when we deliver emergency food to their homes. We want to help them understand that participating in the census is one of the safest and easiest ways to ensure that their voice is heard and that our community is not ignored when it comes to making important decisions over the next ten years.”

Kim Heinle, one of Bayside’s Community Advocates, adds, “We know that word-of-mouth is one of the best and often most trusted means of communication within immigrant populations. So our goal is to not only answer the questions residents might have about the census but also to equip them with the facts, tools, and understanding they need to reach out to their friends and family about this important issue.”

Ensuring a complete and accurate census count is especially important in neighborhoods like Linda Vista. Dr. Pahanish notes, “The stakes are even higher in communities like ours where overlooking vulnerable populations in the census can give the idea that our distressed community is better-off than it actually is. The real economic and social needs of the neighborhood easily becomes overshadowed by wealthy institutions like local universities and the overall effect is that vulnerable populations suffer while cycles of poverty get worse.”

For more information about Census 2020 please contact Bayside Community Center by phone or email at (858)278-0771 or baysideinfo@baysidecc.org. For information about the Count Me 2020 Census Outreach Coalition please visit www.countme2020.org and to watch Bayside’s interview with KUSI click here.