Ask ELITE – 2020 Census

February 19, 2020 

How is Montgomery College helping to support the 2020 Census here in Montgomery County?  And how can College employees get involved?   

Planning to support the 2020 Census began in the summer of 2019 and was spearheaded by Karla Silvestre and Gloria Bonilla of the Office of Community Engagement.  In the fall of 2019, Nik Sushka of the Office of Student Life attended the initial meeting of Complete Count Montgomery, a non-profit group whose goal is to provide census information to the local community.

Community Engagement and Student Affairs remain as the leads for Montgomery College’s support of the United States Census 2020, and while this is not the first time that the College has been involved in supporting the Census, this is the first time there has been a college-wide effort to do so.  This is an initiative which Dr. Pollard wholeheartedly supports.

The need to get a complete count of Montgomery County residents is urgent, as an undercount can lead to a loss in federal funding for a wide variety of projects.  Support for the 2020 Census is taking a number of forms here at the College; read the points below to see how you might support these efforts.

• Census Ambassadors: Led by Nik Sushka, the MC Counts Student Census Ambassadors are students who have been trained to provide information to their fellow students on the 2020 Census.  They are available to present to classes if instructors are interested.  For more information or to schedule an Ambassador to speak to a class you are teaching, please contact Nik Sushka.
  

• Census Festivals: The Census Festivals are outreach events planned for the three main campuses.  At these events, tables with census information will be set up, and students as well as staff and faculty will be able to ask questions of volunteers.  The festivals will occur on Tuesday, April 21 at Germantown, Wednesday, April 22 at Rockville, and Thursday, April 23 at Takoma Park/Silver Spring.  The festivals will run from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. each day. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Nik Sushka.

• MC Library Census Days: On Wednesday, April 1 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 4 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the MC Library at the three main campuses will make the computers available to the public to complete their census forms online.  Volunteers will be on hand to assist users as needed.  If you are interested in helping out please contact Gloria Bonilla for additional information.  Bilingual volunteers will be especially needed.

• Facebook Live, Census FAQ:  Once a week during the month of March, the College will present live on Facebook.  These events are scheduled for March 2, 9, 12, 23, and 30.  These interviews will be conducted in five languages; see below for more specifics.  Get online and get the information you need to complete your census form or to help another do so. For more information, please contact Gloria Bonilla.
• English – Monday, March 2
• Spanish – Monday, March 9
• Amharic – Thursday, March 12
• French – Monday, March 23
• Vietnamese – Monday, March 30

If you are interested in helping out but would prefer to do so in the greater community, you can always volunteer with Montgomery County.  For additional information, please visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/census.