Census Maryland 2020 Newsletter, September 25, 2020
Maryland Department of Planning sent this bulletin at 09/25/2020 02:58 PM EDT
Congratulations to our Census Champions!Fourteen Named Maryland Census Champions - Each Help Make a Difference in Our Complete CountOur champions this week are:
A Maryland Census Champion is a person or group that has gone above and beyond in spreading the Census message in their community. Census Champions have devised innovative ways to get their community engaged in completing the 2020 Census. The individual or group being nominated could be a member of a local complete committee, a faith leader, a business leader/owner, or even someone in the community making a difference. Recipients of the Census Champion will be highlighted in this newsletter, on social media, and on the Maryland 2020 Census Champions web page. Download the Census Champion Nomination form and nominate a champion in your community today. Asian American Center of FrederickElizabeth Chung, Esther Slack-Metellus, and the staff and volunteers of the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF) have been a sustaining force in the effort to educate immigrants living in the county about the Census. In addition to their efforts to include Census literature in many food distributions, they organized several large events and had the Frederick County’s Complete Count Committee participate. These events included a faith breakfast, co-hosted with AARP, that brought together many spiritual leaders; meetings with groups of faith leaders; and an annual community health fair where hundreds of immigrants and other hard-to-reach populations attended. During COVID-19, the AACF created a video in English and five other languages that encouraged the completion of the Census.  Elizabeth BoninElizabeth Bonin, a staff writer with Ocean City Today in Worcester County, has worked with the Worcester County Complete Count Committee (CCC) Coordinator in writing Census related articles and publishing response maps to promote the 2020 Census efforts in the county, state, and nation. Elizabeth reported on information from the US Census Bureau, Maryland Department of Planning, and Worcester County CCC to help promote the 2020 Census. During the COVID-19 uncertainty, she has been invaluable to Worcester County residents and visitors to convey information about the ease, safety, and importance of completing their 2020 Census at their primary or vacation homes.  Delegate Regina T. BoyceDelegate Regina Boyce has been spending countless hours in District 43’s low-responding neighborhoods helping families complete their 2020 Census forms. Through her canvassing efforts, in partnership with Baltimore City Department of Planning, Delegate Boyce has personally helped 25 families complete their 2020 Census. In addition to helping members of her community be counted, she has also used canvassing to distribute Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), school supplies, and voter information to community members.  Sean Burns, Esq.Sean Burns, Esq. has been active in getting the residents of Baltimore City counted in the 2020 Census. He has actively canvassed legislative districts 40, 45, and 46. While volunteering his own time to help citizens get counted, he also recruits his fellow Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity brothers to join these canvassing events. Sean has been a part of six canvassing efforts in Baltimore City and has helped 15 households get counted in the 2020 Census.  Lawanda Dockins-MillsLawanda Dockins-Mills has been an amazing asset to the Salisbury/Wicomico Complete Count Committee (CCC), acting as the official representative of Salisbury University. Lawanda has been instrumental in getting the Census promoted to the off-campus and on-campus students with emails, text messages, social media posts, and more. The CCC appreciates her dedication and enthusiasm and her consistent involvement as it has helped significantly with our off-campus student housing response rates.  Maria HerraraMaria Herrera, Executive Director of the Spanish-Speaking Community of Maryland Inc. (La Comunidad), worked diligently on educating the Hispanic community about the importance, personal responsibility, and community impact of the Census. As a member of the Frederick County Complete Count Committee (CCC) and a Census advocate, she sought out various ways to communicate the importance of the Census. Maria included Census literature in food distributions and coordinated participation by Census Specialists. During COVID-19, Maria organized food distributions that included Census information. She created a video in Spanish that was posted to various social media and included Census information in virtual meetings for the Spanish-speaking community. Her efforts greatly contributed to Frederick County’s success in exceeding its 2010 self-response rate.  Elizabeth (Betty) HewlettElizabeth (Betty) Hewlett has spent decades as a Census Champion, a Census advocate and a Census cheerleader in Prince George’s County and the Washington Metropolitan Region. In 2000, Betty was appointed to lead the first ever Prince George’s County Complete Count Committee (CCC) and is now proudly serving in the position for the second time. A tireless leader, prolific servant of the public interest, and long-time resident of Prince George’s County, Betty loves her community and is actively involved in many sectors, ranging from government, business, and philanthropy to the legal field and the arts. In her role as CCC Chair, she tapped colleagues, friends, neighbors, relatives, and many others to encourage, enlighten, and even cajole their engagement. Starting in 2019, Betty has been on a year-long Census speaking tour, making weekly Census announcements and presentations to residents, local and regional elected and government officials, faith leaders, secondary and higher education leaders, business owners, media representatives, and many more groups in our community. She speaks with passion and high expectations to convince residents of the value and importance of having everyone participate in the Census.  Paula Chase Hyman and Lauren SukalAs the municipal league staff liaison for the Maryland Municipal League (MML) Engagement and Outreach standing committee, Paula Chase Hyman coordinated the committee’s multi-year efforts to plan for and implement Census outreach to all 157 municipalities in Maryland. Working with MML’s representative on the Maryland Complete Count Committee, Lauren Sukal from the City of Gaithersburg, this dynamic duo led the MML committee to commit to applying for and shepherding the Maryland Department of Planning’s generous municipal Census grant program that saw awards made to nearly half of Maryland’s municipalities. In addition, marketing efforts, including MML social media platforms, produced significant improvement in municipal self-reporting statistics over 2010 levels.   Nadine Ngouabe DlodloNadine Ngouabe Dlodlo, President of the Women's Home Preservation Fund in Baltimore City, has been on a crusade to promote the 2020 Census for more than a year - even adding a 2020 Census section to the organization’s website. Most importantly, she spearheaded the effort to hold Census events at markets in the city where people could complete the Census onsight. Nadine worked in partnership with Barbara Bates-Hopkins, Director of the Johns Hopkins’ “Medicine’s Day at the Market” program, who made the outreach at Baltimore's public markets possible. Her efforts have resulted in nearly 300 Census registrations in Baltimore with 101 people completing Census forms for their families in just one day at Lexington Market! Nadine’s actions paved the way for more than $5.2 million in federal funding to the state of Maryland. She has not lost sight of the mission and will hold these events until the Census deadline.  Delegate Sheree Sample-HughesDelegate Sheree Sample-Hughes has been an amazing asset to the Salisbury/Wicomico Complete Count Committee (CCC) mainly because of her involvement in numerous community events and promotion about the importance of the Census to Wicomico County. Delegate Sample-Hughes has invited the CCC to numerous events to assist citizens with Census completion. her dedication to the citizens of Wicomico County is exemplified by her work in the 2020 Census.  Kathy ScheyKathy Schey assisted in the development and execution of a plan to communicate the importance of the Census to seniors throughout Frederick County. As part of the county’s (CCC) working group, she frequently spoke at senior centers throughout the county and coordinated for flyers to be placed in Meals on Wheels (MOW) and on social media. After the pandemic closed the centers in March, she helped to develop a flyer specifically designed to promote the Census to seniors. Kathy printed thousands of copies of the flyers and, with the help of others, continued to include these in meals delivered to seniors through MOW and other programs. Kathy’s advocacy and efforts greatly contributed to Frederick County’s success in exceeding its 2010 self-response rate.  Lori Tyer-EllisLori Tyer-Ellis joined the St. Mary’s County Community Services team in March, just as the pandemic hit Maryland. That did not deter her from responding to the Census initiative. Lori shared Census messaging through program receipts, email marketing messages, and social media posts to thousands of St. Mary’s County residents. She worked tirelessly in coordinating efforts between the county office of Land Use and Growth Management and the management of Recreation and Parks by reaching customers in various agencies including recreation, golf, museums, and parks. Census flyers and giveaways were distributed to children enrolled in athletic and recreational camps, at public beaches, and at special events. Lori worked with the NAACP president in assuring information was provided to the local chapter.  Jenny Plummer-Welker, AICPJenny Plummer-Welker is a treasured leader of the Calvert County Complete Count Committee. As the committee’s lead coordinator, she provides extraordinary initiative and tireless interactions and integration with members, Calvert County Commissioners, and every county organization, especially in the hard-to-count communities. Jenny continuously coordinated significant and timely information to advance the self-response rate - to the highest in the Southern Maryland region. Through her agile ability and creativity, she connected CCC members with county businesses for meaningful outreach during the pandemic. Her exceptional ingenuity and support for the virtual statewide AARP Census 2020 Forum with national and state lawmakers and leaders, expanded our gain of valuable census responses. We applaud Jenny’s unwavering commitment to help every Calvert County resident to be counted. 
Follow Maryland Census 2020 on Twitter and Facebook – Follow @MdCensus2020 and like @MdCensus2020 – to stay in touch with Maryland's Census 2020 complete count efforts. Join the conversation by using hashtag #2020MDCensus on Facebook and on Twitter. Upcoming Meetings and EventsFor further details, go to the Maryland Census 2020 Events page
News and EventsIn This Issue
Note: If the bookmark links to the articles above do not work, check that your pop-up blocker is turned off. Otherwise, scroll down in the newsletter to see the articles. As of September 25, Maryland Self-Response Rate at 70.5 PercentAs of September 25, Maryland’s self-response rate for the 2020 Census is 70.5 percent, while the national average is 66.3 percent. Maryland is in 10th place in the U.S., just 0.1% behind #9 Utah and .3% behind #8 Illinois. Maryland remains 2nd in the region, behind only Virginia at 70.9 percent. Maryland is ahead of Pennsylvania (68.9 percent), Delaware Carroll (81.2 percent and number 25 in the entire U.S. out of 3,200+ counties), Howard (80.3 percent), Harford (78.0 percent), and Frederick (78.0 percent) counties are leading the state. Twenty three Maryland counties/jurisdictions have achieved self-response rates of over 50 percent and 15 counties rates are equal to or exceed the national average. Anne Arundel, Calvert, Caroline, Carroll, Charles, Dorchester, Frederick, Garrett, Harford, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, Prince George's, St. Mary's, Talbot and Washington counties have all exceeded their 2010 self-response rates. View Maryland County and Municipality Response Rates at the MDP's Census 2020 Response Rate At-A-Glance Dashboard
The Maryland Department of Planning's Congratulations to These Counties and Municipalities that Exceeded Their 2010 Response Rate in the 2020 Census This WeekPrince George's County Chestertown  
Hogan Makes Final Push For Marylanders To Fill Out Census Ahead Of September 30 DeadlineWith just days left in September, time is running out to fill out the 2020 Census. Governor Larry Hogan on Tuesday said while Maryland has passed its 2010 participation numbers, there are still people who have not filled out the form. He urged them to do so before the September 30 deadline. See Full Coverage at WJZ TV 13, CBS Baltimore 
Governor Hogan Urges Full Participation in 2020 Census from Marylanders“As we enter the final stretch of this critical, once-in-a-decade initiative, I want to thank the people of Maryland for stepping up and helping to shape our state’s future,” said Governor Hogan. “While we’ve exceeded many key goals, there’s still work to be done. I ask each and every Marylander to help ensure that your household, your neighbors, and your friends have completed the 2020 Census by September 30.” Read Full Article at Fox 45 News 
The Women's Home Preservation Fund Held a Successful Census Drive at Lexington MarketThe Women's Home Preservation Fund engaged with more than 300 people at their Census Drive held at Lexington Market in Baltimore City on Monday, September 21. The market sees roughly 600 visitors daily and that one day alone, 96 people completed their form on-site. These forms represent an estimated 288 people counted for the city and, with each person counted equaling an estimated $18,250 in federal funding over 10 years, $5,256,000 was added to the state. 
Governor Hogan Provides Update on Maryland 2020 Census Before the September 30 DeadlineAccording to a release from Hogan, Maryland remains in the top 10 states for self-response, with 70.3% of households participating through self-response and a total of 96.6% of households enumerated. Maryland has successfully surpassed its 2010 response rate of 69.5% and the current national response rate of 66.1%. Read Full Article at WBAL News Radio 
Maryland Census Outreach Coordinator at Events on the Eastern ShoreThis past week, Maryland Department of Planning Census Outreach Coordinator John Watson attended several outreach events on the Eastern Shore in partnership with the local complete count committees and the U.S. Census Bureau. These outreach events resulted in more than 90 households completing their Census and, based on the estimated number of people in each household and value of each person counted in federal funding, generated more than $6.5 million dollars in federal funding over ten years.  Pictured above. Top Left: Lori Carter, Chair of the Salisbury-Wicomico Complete Count Committee, at the One Stop Shop Resource Fair at the Centre at Salisbury Mall; Top Right: John Watson and Quiana Tilghman, Director of Student Outreach and Leadership Development at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne; Middle Left: John Watson and Senator Addie Eckhardt receiving her Maryland Census Champion certificate at an outreach event in Federalsburg, Caroline County; Middle Right: John Watson with Lori Carter and Sonya Whited Co-chairs of the Salisbury-Wicomico Complete Count Committee at the Hispanic Census Week event in Salisbury; Bottom: John Watson with Lori Carter and Melissa Cassimore at an outreach event for off-campus students at Salisbury University. Prince George's County Latino Census Day Tuesday, September 29This event is being held at Tanglewood Park at 4:00 p.m. 5671 Tanglewood Dr., Riverdale, MD 20737 
Everyone in Howard County Counts!
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Immigrant Faith Communities Hold Census Events
Several events will be held this weekend at various churches to highlight the importance of the 2020 Census.
Household Pulse Survey Phase 2 Biweekly Data Release
On September 23, the U.S. Census Bureau released new data from the second phase of the experimental Household Pulse Survey. The Household Pulse Survey is the result of an effort by the Census Bureau and other federal statistical agencies to document temporal trends in how individuals are experiencing business curtailment and closures, stay-at-home orders, school closures, changes in the availability of consumer goods and consumer patterns, and other abrupt and significant changes to American life. Phase 2 includes new questions on social security benefits, post-secondary education, evictions/foreclosures, SNAP benefits, unemployment benefits and mental health services.
Read Full Article at the U.S. Census Bureau
Last Chance to Be Counted for the Next 10 Years
Time is running out to respond to the 2020 Census! We ask that you remind friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors to participate. Every person living in the United States must be counted. Communities across the nation will miss out on funding for critical public services over the next 10 years unless everyone is counted.
Census Maryland 2020 Social Media
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Follow @MDCensus2020 on Facebook and Twitter
September 24: 6 More Days Left! Complete the Census at 2020Census.gov
September 24: Join PG Census 2020 for Latino Census Day on September 29th!
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