Newark Census Event Will Reach Out To Spanish-Speaking Residents

NEWARK, NJ — The City of Newark and the Newark Public Library will join forces to present a virtual conversation in Spanish entitled, “¡Hazte contar! Por qué es tan importante participar en el Censo 2020” on Thursday, June 4 at 7 p.m.

Organizers will discuss the importance of filling out the 2020 U.S. census with Spanish-speaking Latino/Latina communities in Newark.

The online event will be livestreamed on the Newark Public Library’s Facebook page, as well as via Zoom. Viewers will be able to ask questions live during a “Q&A” session. Learn more about this event here.

The following community leaders are expected to participate in the conversation: Newark Deputy Mayor Jacqueline Quiles; Louis E. Prezeau, Jr., Director, Community & Economic Development at La Casa de Don Pedro; Carlos Medina, President and CEO of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey; and Roberto Frugone, Census Media Specialist. Ingrid Betancourt, Assistant Director for Special Collections at the Newark Public Library, will serve as host and moderator for the event.

With about five months left to turn in their replies, 42 percent of Newark households had self-responded to the 2020 U.S. Census as of Wednesday, according to early data from the bureau.

New Jersey's overall self-response rate stood at 62.1 percent, according to the U.S. Census database. The national response rate was 60.1 percent.

During the last census in 2010, about 51.3 percent of Newark residents self-responded by the deadline.

The U.S. Census counts every resident in the United States. It's mandated by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution and takes place every 10 years.

The census is important for several reasons, officials say. Here are a few, according to census.gov:

• It determines how many representatives each state gets in Congress and is used to redraw district boundaries
• Census results help determine federal funding for critical needs such as roads, schools, health care, emergency services and housing
• Businesses use the data to help decide where to open new locations

Want to self-respond to the 2020 census? It can be completed online here. It can also be completed via phone or mail (learn more here).

Due to the coronavirus crisis, people have until Oct. 31 to self-respond this year.

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