The Foundation for Delaware County wants to make sure every individual and neighborhood in the county is counted in the 2020 Census.

To make that happen, it’s providing grants to nonprofits that are willing to work with neighborhoods and individuals at high risk for being under counted.

The Foundation is partnering with Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia, the Delaware County Complete Count Committee , and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey to create The Delco Counts 2020 Action Fund.

The fund will provide grants to nonprofit community-based organizations with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status.

Interested parties can find more information and a grant proposal form at the Foundation’s website here.

Proposals should promote census awareness and completion in a “hard to count” community within Delaware County.  Some projects could include:

• Alleviating language barriers in promoting census awareness and completion
• Building trust in communities regarding protected census data
• Unique marketing campaigns designed to encourage census participation
• Building organizational capacity through technology and training

Typical grant requests will be between $500 and $5,000. Higher grant requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Applications may be submitted by 5 p.m. on the following dates: Monday, Jan. 6, 2020; Wednesday, March 4, 2020; Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Applicants will be notified within three weeks of a completed application.

Monday, January 6, 2020
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Delaware County is at high-risk for being under counted in the upcoming Census, said Katy Lichtenstein, Foundation Associate Director of Development and Communications.

An analysis by Keystone Counts identified 6 percent of Delaware County households (69,462) specifically at risk for an under-count.

“Pennsylvania is the number two state considered being at risk for being under counted in the country,” she said. “Within Pennsylvania they’ve identified 24 counties at high risk and one of those is Delaware County.”

Even a one percent under count in Pennsylvania would reduce federal funding to the state by $400,000, annually, or $3.9 billion over 10 years.

Reasons communities and individuals are under counted:

• No access to computers, a prime source for information gathering in the 2020 Census.
• Government distrust
• Apathy and a lack of understanding on why it’s important to be counted in the Census.
• Hard-to-reach neighborhoods, especially in low-income and rural communities.
• Homeless populations
• Immigrants with language and cultural barriers.

Many of the individuals and groups at risk of not being counted are the ones who stand to benefit the most by being included in the Census.

“A complete and accurate 2020 Census count is crucial to securing federal funding for our county. Funding for resources such as education, health care, housing, veterans, seniors and roads is distributed to local communities based on census data,” said Foundation President Frances Sheehan.

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