The Ventura County Complete Count Committee will lead a Census Caravan on Saturday, June 20. The caravan – which will have 20 vehicles and 20 different representatives from organizations such as Food Share, Ventura County Library, Líderes Campesinas, the Boys & Girls Clubs, Center for Employment Training (CET), and MICOP – will start its route at 1:00pm in the city of Fillmore in front of City Hall and travel through the cities of Santa Paula, Port Hueneme, and end in Oxnard by 4:00pm. The caravan will not have close contact with the public in order to observe social distancing protocols. This local caravan event coincides with statewide “Census Week of Action” activities, which are organized by the State and promote awareness of the importance of the Census in order to encourage residents to participate.
Currently, 70% of Ventura County residents have participated in the Census and the county is ranked 4th in California for the percentage of residents who have responded to the Census survey. The county is currently trending above the national average for response rate to the Census. Achieving the highest percentage possible for response rate ensures that necessary funding is provided to local communities to support essential programs. In terms of largest hard-to-count populations, Ventura County ranks 59th out of 3,000 counties across the U.S.
“Our local community-based and health and human services organizations rely on accurate Census data for funding, planning and ensuring that services and resources are available to communities in need,” said Sonia Kroth, Co-Chair of the Community Based Organizations/Health and Human Services Sub-Committee for the Complete Count Committee. “Our organizations are excited to collaborate to get the word out in this visible way in our hard-to-count communities. We want to really encourage those who have not yet responded to the 2020 Census to do so now!”
The caravan is part of ongoing efforts to raise awareness about the importance of the Census in Ventura County. Through the collective effort of the County of Ventura, the Ventura County Community Foundation, and over 150 local area nonprofit organizations, government agencies and individuals, the Ventura County Complete Count Committee has conducted Census outreach since January 2019 to prepare and promote awareness about the Census and the local community services that benefit from the federal funding that is awarded through a complete count. Significant emphasis has been placed on reaching those considered hard to count.
To learn more about the Census, please visit the website dedicated to making sure everyone gets counted in the county at www.census.ventura.org.
