Census Thanks

Thank You and Celebration!

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
– Nelson Mandela
Dear Ventura County 2020 Census Complete Count Committee,
 
I just love this quote by Nelson Mandela and think it pretty much sums up these past two years of our 2020 Census Complete Count efforts, lol!
 
Seriously, what we’ve accomplished together is just amazing! Because of you, Ventura County has gone from being 59th out of more than 3,400 communities at-risk of an undercount, to being in the top 95th percentile in the nation for an accurate count. This is historic! And the impact will be felt for generations. 
 
We are working on coordinating a meaningful virtual celebration and would love your ideas! We will send more details in the very near future. 
 
In the meantime, we wanted to send a quick summary of the self-response rates as of 10/15/2020 for Ventura County:
 
Overall
  • U.S. – 66.9%
  • CA – 69.6%
  • Ventura County – 76.7%
 
By City
  • Moorpark – 83.5% (ranked 19th in the State of CA!)
  • Camarillo – 83.3%
  • Thousand Oaks – 82.2%
  • Simi Valley – 82.2%
  • San Buenaventura – 75.6%
  • Santa Paula – 75.2%
  • Ojai – 73.6%
  • Fillmore – 72.6%
  • Oxnard – 69.9%
  • Port Hueneme – 68.9%
 
Please take a moment with me to pause and just imagine the difference that you have made. I’m so proud of each of you and can’t wait to see what we tackle next! Broadband equity for all? High quality preschool for all? Climate change? No matter what, I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have by my side than each of you. 
 
In celebration and heartfelt gratitude,
 
Vanessa
President and CEO
Ventura County Community Foundation

Mid-September Updates

Final 2 Weeks for the Census!

It’s the final 30 days of the Census! Be sure to remind your friends, family, colleagues and neighbors that it’s not too
late to complete the Census!

Census Bureau MQAs This Week

Heads up! The U.S. Census Bureau will be hosting Mobile Questionnaire Assistance (MQA) events in the following cities in Ventura County this week:
 
  • San Buenaventura – 9/17
  • Southwinds Oxnard – 9/19
  • Virtual Facebook Live event with Oxnard Performing Arts Center – 9/19
  • Virtual event with Ojai Unified School District – 9/22 English and 9/23 Spanish

Service Based Enumeration
Taking Place Sept 22-24

Service Based Enumeration provides an opportunity for people without conventional housing or people experiencing homelessness to be included in the Census by counting them at places where they receive services or at outdoor locations such as encampments.
 
  • Emergency and Transitional Shelters with sleeping facilities: Sept 22-24
  • Soup Kitchens, Food Banks, and Mobile Food Vans/Service Sites: Sept 22-24
  • Targeted Non-Sheltered Outdoor Locations: Sept 23-24

Get Out the Count Materials Webpage

The CA State Complete Count Office put together the Get Out the Count webpage, This webpage includes tons of essential outreach tools needed to conduct activities in your communities in one convenient location.
 
Be sure to visit the page to find the following tools and more:
 

Reminders for CCC Grantees

To all of our Complete Count Committee Grantees, please remember the following:
 
SwORD Reports
 
Inventory Report and Equipment Return
  • If you purchased any equipment through grant funds, you will need to file a final inventory listing of the equipment. The listing should include the dates the equipment was acquired, the per unit cost and number of units, serial numbers, model identification. Once the listing is accepted, equipment may be scheduled for return to the State Census Office via shipment by October 31, 20202. Please contact Stephanie Bertsch-Merbach and Dr. Gabino Aguirre for any questions on this.

Read the Op Ed from Our Partners in Santa Barbara County

Last month, Pedro Paz, Ph.D., co-chair of the Santa Barbara County Census 2020 Complete Count Committee and Director of Grantmaking for the Santa Barbara Foundation, wrote an Op-Ed, “Census is about community, not politics” for the Santa Barbara News-Press.
 
In the Op-Ed, Pedro states:
 
“2020 has been a difficult year for our county, state and the nation amidst the global pandemic. However, we can’t lose sight of our future by choosing not to participate in 2020 census by Sept. 30. 
 
Ten years ago, no one could have imagined that the accuracy of that census would impact the resources to our hospitals and clinics for us to locally combat and recover from this pandemic. If we are undercounted, we lose resources for when we need them the most.”

Census PSA "Film Festival"

Be on the lookout this weekend for a special “Film Festival” edition newsletter and social media campaign where we will share all of the Census PSAs and videos that our partners have produced throughout the Census!
 
Please email Stephanie Bertsch-Merbach with VCCF if you have any videos of your own that you would like to highlight!
 
In the meantime, please enjoy the following videos from two of our Census Partners and a brand new NPR-style Census podcast from Child Development Resources! Feel free share with your networks!

Oxnard Performing Arts Center - PSA

Nueva Vista Media - PSA Spanish

Nueva Vista Media - PSA Tagalog

Child Development Resources - Ventura County Counts Podcast

UPCOMING EVENTS
Education and Outreach Subcommittee Meeting:
Thursday, Sept. 17, 10:30 am to 11:30 am

Oxnard Performing Arts Center:
Count Me In Livestream
Sept. 19, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Oxnard Performing Arts Center:
2020 Halloween Census Caravan
Sept. 27, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Census “Film Festival”

Ventura County Counts – 2020 Census – "Film Festival" Edition

Census PSA “Film Festival”

The most important lesson we’ve learned through this journey we’ve taken together with the Census is how creative, ingenious, and innovative our partners truly are!
 
Many of us have had to pivot our activities to continue our outreach during COVID-19 while maintaining social distancing. We could have never imagined the brilliance that our partners brought to problem solve and continue to share the message about the importance of the Census.
 
This is why we are taking a moment to celebrate all of your creativity in this Special Census PSA “Film Festival” Edition of our Newsletter.
 
We have compiled an extensive (though not exhaustive!) list of the videos you produced and shared on social media. We will be sharing these videos on our Ventura County Counts Facebook page starting this weekend and through next week so we can continue to share these amazing videos with our community during the final days of the Census.
 
 
Without further ado, for your consideration…

Child Development Resources

County of Ventura

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Ventura County Alumnae Chapter

Diversity Collective

Faith-Based Subcommittee

Inlakech