Last week, Yonkers households should have received an invitation in the mail from the Census Bureau to complete the 2020 census questionnaire. As we all stay at home to “save America,” something you can do for the City of Yonkers is complete the census.
Your household, whether one person or more than one person, will receive only one invitation and one 12-digit census ID number. You will also receive guides to help you respond to the questions either online, by phone or by mail. If your household is unable to respond by April 30, census takers will be able to help you during May, June and July.
No matter which way your household chooses to respond to the questionnaire, there will be three sets of questions:
The person responding on behalf of your household (person one) will be asked four questions: How many people of all ages (including newborn babies) are part of your household and living in your house/apartment on April 1, 2020? Are other people living in your house/apartment on April 1 who are not part of your household? If you own your house/apartment, does it have a mortgage; if you rent your home/apartment, do you pay rent? What is your telephone number?
Person one will also be asked five questions about themselves: First and last name, sex, age, race, and whether Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin.
Then, each additional person in the household, if any, will be asked the same five questions as person one, plus two more questions: How are you related to person one? Do you usually live or stay somewhere else?
When you respond to the census, your answers are kept anonymous, as the U.S. Census Bureau is bound by law to protect your answers and keep them strictly confidential. The law ensures that your private information is never published and that your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.
Over the next few weeks, you should receive the following in the mail: between March 26 and April 3, a reminder postcard; between April 8 and 16, a reminder letter and paper questionnaire; and between April 20 and 27, a final reminder postcard before a follow-up in person.
Although the U.S. Census Bureau has been conducting the census of population since 1790, this is the first time it will be able to respond to census questions online.
The census is important to the City of Yonkers. Its data is used to determine the number of representatives the city have in Congress and how much Yonkers will receive of the $675 billion in federal funds that are distributed back to states and local communities every year for services and infrastructure, including health care, jobs, schools, roads and businesses.
If you would like help in answering the census, the City of Yonkers and many local community organizations are available, including the Community Planning Council at cpcyonkers@yahoo.com and 914-969-3616
This article is sponsored by the 2020 Census Committee of the Community Planning Council of Yonkers, including Kelly Chiarella of the Yonkers Office for the Aging, Susan Naber of YPS, Lucria Ortiz of the Yonkers Family YMCA, Susan Thaler of Yonkers Public Library and Ray Wilcox of Yonkers Arts.
