TMC PULSE

t m c n e w s . o r g 8 Looking for a change? Let experience guide you with your next move. Cheryl Cooper, selling real estate for over 20 years in Houston's close in neighborhoods. 267 Pine Hollow lane Tanglewood area | lP: $1,395,000 2168 Swift Blvd. SouThgaTe | Sold CHERYL COOPER 713.254.4984 ccooper@greenwoodking.com GREENWOOD KING PROPERTIES 4510 BircH Bellaire | lP: $1,125,000 5208 BraeBurn (non MlS) Bellaire | Price uPon requeST For Sale For Sale For Sale Just Sold Rice University professor of sociology Stephen Klineberg, Ph.D., founding director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research and leader of the annual Kinder Houston Area Survey, said he relies "tremen- dously" on census data. "We need the information— especially about the most under- served members of the community who have the most precarious connection to health programs," Klineberg said. "You're talking about folks with immigration issues, those with less education, folks with lower incomes and minorities … and that has enormous implications for telling the health providers about the needs out there." Reaching the people Granular, grassroots efforts are necessary to connect trusted com- municators with diverse communi- ties—particularly after a citizenship question was considered for the 2020 census form, but ultimately omitted. "Several months ago, when the federal government was instituting the mass deportations, we were tell- ing the immigrant-refugee commu- nity that you don't have to answer your door," Turner said. "Now, we are telling people that if you don't go online, if you don't mail it, please answer your door. There is a lot of fear and apprehension and distrust. We take every available opportu- nity to encourage people to please respond to the census." Perez-Patron also noted the chal- lenges in 2020 for people in margin- alized communities regarding the confidentiality of the information shared on census forms. "We are in a very difficult environment right now and people are wary of everything," she said. "They don't want to trust. It's very important for them to know that any information that they give to the census is safe." The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health awarded $2.1 million to the Texas Communities Count initiative, which supports complete count efforts statewide and helps find new ways to capture hard-to- count populations. The UTHealth School of Public Health in El Paso was one of 28 Texas organizations to receive a grant to support census participation. Louis Brown, Ph.D., an associate professor at the El Paso school, is leading an effort targeting El Paso and rural areas along the border in neighboring Hudspeth County. "We are focused on different hard-to-count populations, with immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border being the most prominent," he said. "We are working with food pantries and promoting census participation among people who are highly mobile and low income, but also trying to address misconcep- tions about not being able to com- plete the census if you don't have proper documentation and allaying fears about the confidentiality and how the data will get used." Bilingual community health workers and census ambassadors who speak English and Spanish are working now to educate people about the census. After forms are delivered, there will be additional efforts to help people respond. "We will work with community agencies—reaching out to the people that they serve—to help them complete the census on the spot via internet-connected laptops and cell phones," Brown said. Leaders and public health experts believe that's the kind of effort that will increase response rates and ensure the most accurate count possible. "I don't care whether you are 1 month old or you are 110—it doesn't matter whether you're a citizen or not a citizen—if you are breathing, we have to count you," Turner said.

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