Elyria Census Committee works to get a complete, accurate count

ELYRIA — An Elyria subcommittee for Lorain County's Census group brought the census to residents Thursday. Organized by the Lorain County Urban League and the Elyria subcommittee for the Complete Count Committee, the group took information and laptops to Wilkes Villa, which is run by the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, to educate residents and help them fill out the census. "We really just want to bring people out and rally around the census and why it's important," said Dee Baker, outreach and civic engagement manager at LCUL. "Not only do we want to make sure we get a complete count, it's equally as important to make sure we get an accurate count." Funding dollars from the federal government are largely based off census numbers taken every 10 years. That's why getting everyone accurately counted is crucial, Baker said. "We just have to ensure that people really understand why it's important," she said. "We want to get our fair share of that $675 billion because we need it, we deserve it, and we want to make sure that the folk out here are counted." Iliana Lopez, member of the census committee and property manager at Wilkes Villa, said she knocked on residents' doors to inform them about the census and why it's important because it funds public education and public housing. "A lot of people feel like they're not counted, so they won't do it," Lopez said. "So, we're trying to bring it to them so that we can get higher participation. Transportation is an issue here so we try our best to bring the community here to them, show them that there's opportunities and organizations here to help them. The census is important. Most of the assistance our tenants get is through the government and this is what the government uses." As of Thursday evening, 65.9 percent of Elyria had responded to the census according to data from the U.S. Census website. Neighboring Lorain had a 60.3 percent response rate. Oberlin and Vermilion have similar responses. Communities like Avon, Avon Lake, North Ridgeville, Amherst, Wellington and Sheffield have rates over 70 percent. Children under the age of 5 are the most undercounted population on the census, which is part of the reason the subcommittee chose to set up shop at Wilkes Villa. There are 542 people over the age of 2 who live in the residential neighborhood. "When we don't count, we miss $1,200 per person times 10 years," Baker said. "So we lose dollars. And I think a lot of times people just don't understand why it's important to count the entire household. I think sometimes they think as long as they get the mom and the dad, the kids don't count. But it's our charge to change that." Samairia Atkinson volunteered her time to help give information and help fill out forms. "People don't realize how important the census is to everyone," Atkinson said. "... It does matter and everyone does count. It's very beneficial to everyone. People don't even realize little kids matter. We need the money to help out in the long run. This whole community." Contact Laina Yost (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com.