Somos Vecinos is a “Neighbor-to-Neighbor” outreach campaign of Ventura County Counts.
Join us to make sure that everyone is counted!
Special Message from Dolores Huerta
“The Census 2020 is so important that it’s going to take all of us working together. Even if we’re not U.S. citizens, the Census is for everyone. If we don’t get counted, our community loses representation. The information on the Census is confidential. We owe being counted to our family, and to our community. Help us to organize and make sure everyone is counted. Somos Vecinos y Todo Contamos!”
About 'Somos Vecinos'
Latinos now number almost 60 million individuals. One out of every six residents in the U.S. is Latino. This is the second largest group in the country. Data gathered by the Census will used to insure the economic, social and civic wellness of our community.
Our outreach plan includes encouraging individuals to participate in the census through a “Neighbor-to-Neighbor” strategy. “Somos Vecinos” is the Spanish version of this strategy.
In more traditional societies, vecino is a term that refers to a particular residential relationship but also encapsulates the notion of personal familiarity social connection.
The concept behind this strategy includes not only the notion of “residential ”vecinos”, i.e. individuals and families living next door to each other, but also “social” neighbors which incorporates other both formal and informal social networks that HTC individuals regularly engage in and trust.
Community members and Hard-to-Count (HTC) individuals will be contacted in environments where they feel safe: their churches and faith communities, in homes and personal social environments, and at neighborhood businesses.
In the next few months, we will be launching our outreach strategy titled “Somos Vecinos…y todos contamos!”
(We are all neighbors…and we all count!). There will be hundreds of volunteers visiting you to explain the importance of the Census and the importance of your participation. You will recognize some of these volunteers as “vecinos” from your neighborhood. Some of these will be “social vecinos”, folks you interact with daily while shopping, in schools, clinics, etc. All of these volunteers implementing the Somos Vecinos strategy are working to ensure that our community receives all the services and political representation it deserves.
Let's Organize!
“We’re proud to work with American labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta in our outreach campaign ‘Somos Vecinos y Todos Contamos,’ because she represents our people and is a fearless leader in our community. Si Se Puede!”
— Gabino Aguirre, PhD Coordinator, Region 5 Census 2020 Initiative
Video Resources
Census 2020 Overview
Somos Vecinos & Census 2020 overview with Dolores Huerta & Dr. Gabino Aguirre, Region Coordinator, Region 5, CA Census 2020 Initiative.
Censo 2020 Resumen
Un resumen de Somos Vecinos y el Censo 2020 con Dolores Huerta y Dr. Gabino Aguirre, Coordinador Regional, Region 5 CA Census 2020