East Point pushing hard in closing days of Census count
Full-court press to boost response rates in three hard-to-count areas in the city
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With hot dogs, swag and lots of volunteers, East Point continued its full-court press on Saturday to have residents complete the U.S. Census.
City officials pushed for a strong close to their months-long Census campaign, with at least two more events scheduled for Wednesday – which could be the last official day of counting.
At stake for East Point is about $2,300 per person over the 10-year census period – or $23,000 in federal funds that will help fund a wide swath of services for residents. But with a 66% response rate – the same as the 2010 Census and far short of the city’s goal of 86% this year – the city’s #CountThePoint campaign is closing with a burst of activity.
“We're trying to make sure that we get our numbers up, that we finish our mission and that everyone’s been counted,” Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham (top photo) said Saturday during a Census Grocery Pop-Up in the parking lot of Kroger on Headland Drive.
“It is critically important. And what we're realizing is that people just don't understand the value of it right now. And so that's why you have to finish strong,” the mayor added.
Swag, hot dogs and even cheesecake
The pop-up on Saturday (photos) was just one of dozens of events the city has hosted since Census counting opened earlier this year. The festivities included a DJ, census swag, hot dogs and volunteers with tablets to help people fill out the form online.
A week earlier, the city hosted a Census Chalk Art Festival in John D. Milner Park. On Tuesday, there were two pop-ups on Washington Road – one at Sammy Cheezecake and another at Chapelhill Church Atlanta.
On Wednesday, the Atlanta NAACP hosts a census pop-up at its offices on Calhoun Avenue until 8 p.m. Another event – Wind Down Wednesday Census 2020 Concert – is hosted by Fulton County and ArtsXChange. The event runs from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 2148 Newnan St.
Throughout the #CountThePoint campaign, events crisscrossed the city and often include partnerships with civic organizations to blanket hard-to-count areas with volunteers to knock on doors and canvass apartment complexes. Ingraham said the city in recent days has been targeting three areas with low response rates – the East Washington-River Park area, around City Hall and the Sun Valley neighborhood and Laural Ridge Drive.
“We’re not going to take any chances. We’re going to put a full-court press on through Sept. 30. If it appears that it is still open after that, we’ll continue. But we want to get our numbers as high as we can,” Ingraham said.
Track your neighborhood’s response rate
When census counting will end isn’t clear. It was extended to Oct. 31, then the Trump administration abruptly shortened the schedule to Sept. 30. The matter is now before a federal judge.
Just in case, the city has scheduled three Census Pop-Ups on Saturday – Wayfield Foods on Headland Drive (9 a.m. to noon), Food Mart on Bayard Street (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.) and Sammy Cheezecake on Washington Road (2 p.m. to 5 p.m)
“We actually have seen some good movement within the last week or so,” Ingraham said.
The city launched a website as part of its #CountThePoint efforts. It includes a map tracking response rates by neighborhood. You can complete the Census online.