About the Delco Counts 2020 Action Fund

The Delco Counts 2020 Action Fund is a partnership between The Foundation for Delaware County, Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia (Philanthropy Network), United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, and the Delaware County Complete Count Committee. It was created to support Delaware County organizations in promoting a complete and accurate count of all residents in the upcoming 2020 Census.

The fund provided grants up to $5,000 and in certain circumstances above $5,000 to nonprofit community-based organizations with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status that advanced the work of the 2020 Census in neighborhoods that are identified to be at risk of being under-counted.

Delaware County Complete Count Action Fund’s Grants

The Foundation for Delaware County, in partnership with the United Way of Greater Philadelphia, The Philanthropy Network and the Delaware County Complete Count Committee is honored to partner with these 17 nonprofit organizations to ensure a complete and accurate count of the 2020 Census.

The Delaware County Complete Count Action Fund is made possible by a $50,000 challenge grant from the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, which has been matched with a $25,000 grant from The Foundation for Delaware County and grants from the Crozer-Chester Medical Fund, Delaware County Memorial Hospital Medical Fund, Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, Laborers Local 413, PECO, and Wells Fargo.

The $96,813 in grant awards will support the following 2020 Census projects:

Grants Awarded in January, 2020

Grants Awarded in March, 2020

Delaware County Literacy Council – $1,500 to enroll all Council program participants in the census at sites in Chester and Upper Darby, as well as at workplace and in-home meetings. Budget covers printed materials, Chromebooks, a WIFI hotspot, and travel reimbursement.

The Library Foundation of Delaware County – $5,000 to provide yard signs, bookmarks, posters and information sheets to 28 libraries in Delaware County, and to purchase computers and laptops for use at special “Delco Counts Day @ the Library” events hosted by libraries in the hardest to count areas.

Multicultural Community Family Services – $10,000 to implement “African Heritage & Latino Census Counts Civic Engagement Project”. The project will train Census Champions, conduct Train the Trainer sessions, host Census Champion workshops, conduct outreach, and provide technical assistance targeted to enrolling hard-to-count residents in Upper Darby, Millbourne, and East Lansdowne Boroughs, with a particular focus on foreign-born populations in those townships.

The Urban League of Philadelphia – $10,000 to secure 1,000 Census Completion Pledge Cards in Delaware County with 20 Delaware County residents trained as “Ambassador Advocates”. Advocates will inform, educate and encourage hard-to-count communities to participate in the census through door-to-door canvassing days using computer tablets, and a digital media campaign called “Make Black Count”.

Widener University – $800 to cover the cost of locally sourced food for at least 100 attendees at a Complete Count event to be held in Chester.

Centro de Apoyo Comunitario – $4,400 to hold information sessions where laptops and hotspots would be provided to help residents respond to the census. Funding will also cover outreach at local churches, food banks, and informal community events.

Chester Community Improvement Project – $2,600 to host two Census Counts events, execute a social media campaign, distribute and provide census promotional material for local churches and program clients.

Lansdowne Economic Development Corp. (LEDC) – $3,500 to provide materials such as flyers, posters, banners, and yard signs, and to have sign-up events at local houses of worship.

The Library Foundation of Delaware County – $2,000 for a targeted social media campaign to inform Delaware County residents that the census is safe, easy and important to complete.

Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania (MILPA) – $4,400 to increase census participation of the Latino community in Delaware County, including translation of census materials, canvassing campaigns and phone banks.

NAACP Media Area Branch – $1,409 for a program to encourage Delaware County students to create census related posters and become Census Champions with their parents.

Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation – $4,400 for targeted outreach to the Asian American community in Delaware County.

WHYY – $5,000 to educate their audiences about the 2020 Census through a census dedicated landing page, PSA’s and the creation of regional spots using local community members.

Grants Awarded in August, 2020

Chester Community Improvement Project – $5,850 to partner with local businesses and artists who will act as Census Advocates to help ensure that households in the City of Chester are counted in the 2020 Census.

Making a Change Group – $5,000 to support digital outreach and canvassing in census tracts with low participation in the City of Chester.

Multicultural Community Family Services – $22,954 to support a partnership between Multicultural Community Family Services (MCFS) and the Delaware County Immigrant Coalition (DCIC). The immigrant coalition initiative named Immigrant Civic Leadership Project (ICLP) will conduct census champion training and a virtual “Be Counted” census outreach phone bank drive via social media to help ensure Delaware County immigrant households complete the Census.

Upper Darby Corporation for Community and Economic Development – $8,000 to support outreach, using the Language Line and distribution of educational material to non-English speaking residents by targeting the 69th Street commercial corridors of Upper Darby.

Grant Management

All grant management for the Delco Counts 2020 Action Fund is being done through The Foundation for Delaware County.
Grant Review Committee:
Retired Common Pleas Court Judge Nathaniel (Nick) Nichols, Chair
Alexandra (Mindy) Aldridge, Nelson Foundation
Helen Davis Picher, National Philanthropic Trust
Michael Ranck, Community YMCA
Frances Sheehan, President, The Foundation for Delaware County
Malcolm Yates, Office of Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon

Please direct additional questions to: info@delcofoundation.org

What’s at Stake

The Census not only ensures fair political representation, but it also determines the annual appropriation of more than $883 billion in federal funds to states. This means that what happens in this next Census will have profound implications for every community in our commonwealth for the next decade.

According to researchers at George Washington University, in 2015 Pennsylvania received $26.79 billion dollars in federal grants ($2,093 per capita) that were allocated to 16 large federal assistance programs based on the Census count. In FY2016, Pennsylvania received $39 billion through 55 federal spending programs guided by data derived from the 2010 Census.

The stakes in the 2020 Census are especially high for Pennsylvania, which has been identified as the #2 state at risk of an undercount.  An analysis by Keystone Counts identified 1.2 million Pennsylvania households in 24 counties at high risk for an undercount; of those households, 6 percent (69,462) are in Delaware County (see map above).

Just a 1 percent under-count could cost Pennsylvania $400 million annually, or $3.9 billion over 10 years. Among the populations at highest risk for an under-count are people of color, immigrants, children under 18 years old, low-income and rural communities, and the homeless.

Unique Challenges for the 2020 Census

Factors presenting a unique set of challenges for the 2020 Census include:

  • massive under-funding of the U.S. Census Bureau itself;
  • the shift to digital data collection, raising concerns about accuracy and cyber-security; and
  • a prevailing climate of fear and distrust of government.

Additional Resources

 Delaware County Complete Count Website: https://census-2020-dcpd.hub.arcgis.com/

Census Jobs: https://2020census.gov/en/jobs/how-to-apply.html