Peoria Standard

City of Atlanta issued the following announcement on April 4.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms launched ATL Counts Census 2020 – a year-long effort to educate and mobilize Atlanta residents for the upcoming decennial Census. This citywide campaign has an aggressive mission to reach, teach and count every person living in the City of Atlanta. The U.S. Constitution mandates every person living in the United States be counted every 10 years. This includes all ages, races, ethnic groups and citizenship status, including non-citizens. An accurate count is critical to ensure Atlanta receives its fair share of public resources to support everything from Head Start to public transportation.

“This is more than just a count,” said Mayor Bottoms. “The Census is about representation of each resident and ensuring our communities are reflective of the Atlanta we see every day. We have put together a team that represents the diversity of all Atlantans to ensure no one is left behind. I am confident that with everyone working together, we can get to an accurate count.”

Congressman John Lewis will join Mayor Bottoms to serve as Co-Chair of ATL Counts and help lead a diverse group of corporate and civic partners who have been identified to serve on the Atlanta Complete Count Committee.

This group, in coordination with the U.S. Census Bureau, will implement a strategic action plan to ensure the city’s most difficult-to-reach populations are counted – an aggressive 80% Census form return goal has been set.

“An accurate census count is very important to the future of Atlanta,” said Rep. John Lewis. “Census information is used to determine how much the federal government will contribute to the city’s efforts to build better roads, better schools, better transportation, fund food assistance programs, fire management programs, small business development programs and much, much more. I applaud the Mayor for working to ensure that the federal government gets this done in our city and get this done right.”

Additionally, targeted outreach will be conducted, and specialized subcommittees will be established to further ensure every person is counted from newborns to college students; from the Southside to Northside; from our immigrant communities to our homeless population. With the help of the Complete Count Committee, Atlanta will count everyone.

Atlanta Complete Count Committee Members include:

James Alexander, Mercy Housing

Chris Bauman, SEIU

Randy Beall, North Georgia Building Trades

Mark Becker, Georgia State University

Andrea Boone, Atlanta City Council

Preston Brant, Office of Human Services

Helen Butler, Coalition for the People's Agenda

Kimberlyn Daniels, WorkSource Atlanta

Nancy Flake-Johnson, Urban League of Greater Atlanta

Chris Gilmore, Emerging 100

Jerry Gonzalez, GALEO and GA Latino CCC

Jeff Graham, Georgia Equality

Howard Grant, Atlanta Housing

John Haupert, Grady Hospital

William Hawthorne, Mayor's Office of Equity

Denise Hendricks, Headline News

Doug Hertz, Atlanta Committee for Progress

Rev. Bettye Holland Williams, Concerned Black Clergy

Raphael Holloway, Gateway 24/7

Alvin Huntspon, Lost N Found Youth

Tim Keane, Planning Department

John Lewis, US Congressman

Rohit Malhotra, Center for Civic Innovation

Michelle Maziar, Welcoming Atlanta

Dr. Margaret Mckenzie, Atlanta Public Schools

Erika Mitchell, Atlanta School Board

Eduardo Munoz, Atlanta Youth Representative

Amol Naik, Mayor's Office of Resilience

Elizabeth Omilami, Hosea Feed the Hungry

Jeff Parker, MARTA

Alicia Phillip, Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta

Terry Ross, Community Representative

Dr. Victoria Seals, Atlanta Technical College

Joyce Sheperd, Atlanta City Council

Doug Shipman, Woodruff Arts Center

Nathaniel Smith, Partnership for Southern Equity

Mohammad Tomeh, Al Farooq Masjid of Atlanta

Anibal Torres, Latin American Association

Sara Totonchi, Southern Center for Human Rights

Tene Traylor, Kendeda Fund

Charnette Trimble, Community Representative

Jackie Watson, Caribbean American Chamber

Dov Wilker, American Jewish Committee

Phillana Williams, Office of Entertainment

Marilyn Winn, Women on the Rise

Chaka Zulu, Celebrity & Entertainment

The ATL Counts Census 2020 campaign headquarters will be located at Dunbar Recreation Center (477 Windsor St SW, Atlanta, GA 30312), in the heart of the Mechanicsville community. A number of transportation options are available for accessing the community-based center, including free parking on-site. Volunteer opportunities are available. For more information about ATL Counts Census 2020, visit www.ATLCounts.org.

Original source can be found here.