Faith & Community Leaders from Across the State Hold Teleconference Urging Ohioans to Take the 2020 Census
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2020
MEDIA CONTACT
Michelle Nealy, mnealy@faithinpubliclife.org, (202) 735-7123
Dan Clark, dclark@faithinpubliclife.org, (614) 648-3663
Austin Schuler, aschuler@faithinpubliclife.org, (540) 280-3393
Faith & Community Leaders from Across the State Hold Teleconference Urging Ohioans to Take the 2020 Census
Columbus, OH — On Wednesday, April 1, Ohio faith and community leaders held a video conference calling on all Ohio residents to complete the 2020 Census. National Census Day on April 1 marked a day of celebration kicking off the 2020 Census.
Amid COVID-19, Ohio faith leaders remain committed to ensuring all Ohioans are counted so our communities receive the federal representation and resources they need. The census will determine critical funding for hospitals, roads, schools and other social programs. People can respond immediately to the 2020 Census online at 2020census.gov, by mail, or phone.
Nearly 30 Ohio-based faith groups have signed a statewide letter calling on Ohio residents to complete the 2020 Census. To see the letter and the full list of signers, click here.
To watch the full video of the teleconference, click here.
Elizabeth Brown, Executive Director, Women’s Public Policy Network (Columbus)
“Through our nearly 40 network partners in Ohio, our message is simple: The census matters because you matter. Be counted. With $33 billion dollars in federal funding on the line for public programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance, women and children have a lot on the line in this census. Especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic, the public wellbeing and the data that undergirds it have never been more important.”
Rev. Terry Williams, Lead Pastor, Orchard Hill United Church of Christ (Chillicothe)
“All of us can bring the message to every small town door in Ohio that I’m not from the government, but I am here to help you fill out the census. Because we have got to get an accurate count in this census particularly in rural towns.”
Rev. Lesley Jones, Founder and Senior Pastor, Truth and Destiny United Church of Christ and Destiny Community Development Corporation (Cincinnati)
“I believe that every person in their existence is divinely given dignity and demand that everyone should be counted by our government. That is why I’ve worked with a dozen community organizations and many individuals to ensure that people in our community are counted.”
Rev. Ray Greene, Jr. Regional Political Director, The Freedom BLOC (Black Led Organizing Collective) (Akron)
“We must ensure that all of our citizens especially our Black community who historically have been undercounted are counted in this year’s census. An undercount results in lack of resources in Black communities and less representation in local and state government. We can’t afford to count Black Men and Women who are in prison as living in the district that the prison is housed in but instead these Black people must be counted in the community they will soon return to.”
José Arnulfo Cabrera, Director of Education and Advocacy for Migration, Ignatian Solidarity Network (Cleveland)
“Thankfully the Supreme Court blocked the Trump’s administration’s attempt to add the citizenship question in the census. It’s very important for us to fill it out because in the last census many undocumented families were left uncounted. ”
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