Hamtramck needs to step up its Census participation

We can’t say this enough.
If you haven’t filled out your Census form, drop everything you are doing and go fill it out.
Why?
There are a whole bunch of reasons why you should, but we will boil it down to this: The more people who are counted in Hamtramck, the more federal funding gets funneled this way.
How’s that?
The population size of Hamtramck affects how much we get in various federal grants that cover such things as street repairs, infrastructure repairs (like sewers) and school aid.
We’ll just keep it that simple.
As of this week, only a little over 50 percent of our known population has participated in the Census. We have to do much better than that before the federal government shuts down the counting period, which has been cut a month short and will now end in September.
In one final push to make sure Hamtramck is counted, Census workers will be going to households that did not return Census forms or go online to fill one out.
We know there are a number of residents who feel uncertain about participating. Maybe they don’t have legal status, or maybe they are even wanted by the law.
Doesn’t matter.
This Census information is not shared with any other government agency.
OK, we know a number of folks are not going to believe that. Go ahead and be skeptical.
But know this: You are needlessly harming the city’s ability to provide services, so you lose the right to complain. It’s a two-way street here.
The Census happens only once every 10 years for an official nationwide count. The United States has been taking a census for a couple of hundred years.
This information has created a fascinating insight into our lives over those many years.
Even if you are not a citizen, or whether you are here legally or not, you deserve to be counted.
Everyone, do your civic duty.
Be counted!
Posted Aug. 28, 2020