We’re getting a first look at grantees who will be doing on-the-ground outreach efforts in Michigan to encourage Census 2020 participation in historically undercounted communities.

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan (CFSEM), which is one of 11 CMF member community foundations serving or partnering as a regional hub through the Nonprofits Complete Count Campaign (NPCCC), has announced nearly $1 million in grants to promote an accurate census.

CFSEM shared that it awarded grants to 36 organizations in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties that are working to promote awareness and action by historically undercounted populations such as communities of color, low-income households, immigrants and young children.

The grantee organizations include ACCESS, Area Agency on Aging, Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance and Detroit Hispanic Development Corp., to name a few.

Meanwhile in mid-Michigan, the grant process is underway in Midland and Bay counties with Isabella County launching its process later this month as part of the Great Lakes Bay Regional Census Hub.  

The Great Lakes Bay Regional Census Hub includes Midland Area Community Foundation in collaboration with Bay Area Community Foundation, Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation and Saginaw Community Foundation.

“For Saginaw, we have created subcommittees representing various populations in the city/county, which will help guide our work and provide insight for Saginaw’s grants,” Chloe Updegraff, regional census hub coordinator for the four-county area said. “In addition to grants, we have some great work being done in community outreach, with organizations in Bay and Saginaw working with youth groups and neighborhood associations to conduct educational town halls and outreach to residents.”

Up North, the Community Foundation for Marquette County (CFMC) and Community Foundation for the Upper Peninsula (CFUP) are partnering and serving as a census hub. The U.P. regional census hub is expected to announce its grant allocations next month. 

The Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) is also serving as a census hub. Over the next several months CFGF will be working on educating nonprofits about what’s at stake for the census, mobilizing nonprofits in “get out the count” efforts, awarding mini-grants and serving as a key messenger on the importance of a complete count.

As CMF has shared, there’s a lot at stake for our state if communities are not counted in Census 2020:

• Our state relies more on federal funding than any other state in the country except Mississippi, as 40 percent of our state funding comes from federal funding that is allocated based on census data.

• Michigan stands to lose an estimated $1,800 per person, per year, for 10 years for every person who isn’t counted.

Communities most at-risk for being undercounted are Arab Americans, immigrants, Latinx, children under the age of 5, rural residents and African Americans in urban areas.

A new interactive data tool is showing the potential impact of a census undercount in Michigan communities. The tool, developed by the Michigan League for Public Policy’s (MLPP) Kids Count project in collaboration with Governor Gretchen Whitmer and lawmakers, allows users to identify the number of children ages 0-5, children of color, children in immigrant families and children in families with low incomes both across the state and by county.

“The upcoming census is just as important to our state as the presidential election, and we have to make sure all of our kids are counted,” Karen Holcomb-Merrill, chief operating officer for the MLPP and a member of the governor’s Complete Count Committee said. “An accurate census count is vital to promoting racial equity and informing and improving public policy, as billions of dollars in federal funding for our state hang in the balance.”

The governor launched a Complete Count Committee earlier this summer, appointing Kyle Caldwell, president and CEO of CMF to represent CMF in the statewide group.

Want more?

Check out the new data tool and see how many people in your community are at risk of being undercounted.

Connect with the Michigan Nonprofits Complete Count Campaign.

Learn more about CMF’s Census 2020 work.