You do not need to be a citizen to be counted

Once every 10 years, the United States takes a census or count of everyone in the United States. The census is going on now but is currently scheduled to end Sept. 30. The census has a great impact on our communities.

Census data are used for political redistricting and for the number of representatives sent to the federal House of Representatives. It also impacts the money that New York gets. In the past 10 years, New York received approximately $73 billion due to the data from the 2010 Census. New York used the money for such things as Head Start, Senior Services, Medicaid and Medicare, maternal health care, SNAP and Pell grants, public transportation and special education. Another use for the census is as a historical document. Genealogists can use it to locate ancestors. The television program “Finding Your Roots” locates where our ancestors settled and what their occupation might have been.

Everyone needs to, please, fill out the census. A person does not have to be a citizen to fill out the census, and questions about immigration status are not asked. Further, no information from the census will be released for 72 years; in fact, it is a crime to release census information before that time.

While census counters recently started going doorto-door to try to find people who have not yet filled out the census, people who haven’t yet filled out the forms don’t have to wait until someone knocks on the door to fill it out. The census is available at www.2020census. gov or call 844-468-2020.

The census is important to allofus. Frances Wright Albany