Forsyth County leaders are working to ensure every resident participates in the 2020 U.S. Census.
Elizabeth Perkins Lees is a member of the Forsyth County Complete Count Committee and the director of research for Forsyth Futures – a non-profit that studies systemic challenges facing the community. She says census data is the basis of a lot of research.
“People don't realize that when we talk about what the poverty rate is in Forsyth County, or how many people own homes in the county, that data almost always comes from the U.S. Census Bureau," said Lees.
Forsyth Futures recently launched a website to educate nonprofit leaders about what they can do to help clients take part in the census. Lees says the site will eventually contain a map marking the locations of internet-connected public computers.
“So if I'm working at a nonprofit and I'm talking to a client and they mentioned that they got this letter in the mail asking them to fill out the census online, but they're not sure where they're going to go to do it, it would be really easy for me to get on the website and point people to the closest location,” said Lees.
Residents will begin receiving letters from the federal government about the census starting March 12.