Philly plans on training 1,000 census champions

Philadelphia is launching a Census Champion training program to better educate people about why the census matters.

Mayor Jim Kenney said in a press release that, “The City of Philadelphia is committed to helping every member of our community understand why the census is so critical for all of us.” 

Kenney added, “That is why we established Philly Counts 2020 and the Complete Count Committee. From now until December 2019, we are building capacity and planning our work, with a focus on coordinating outreach and educating the public about the census through a neighbor-to-neighbor approach. The Census Champions program is an integral part of our efforts.”

Census data helps determine Congressional representation as well as federal funding for the city, Kenney said, adding that an incomplete count could affect the city for the next decade.

The Census Champions will be trained to talk about the census and how it relates to their community, promote participation, and debunk census myths. 

Stephanie Reid, Executive Director of Philly Counts 2020, said in a press release that, “People tend to trust members of their community more than the government or other official sources. Census Champions will be our voices in their community, having the great responsibility to educate people in their circles.” 

The census training will last around 90 minutes and covering everything from census 101 and more. Sessions to become as Census Champion will take place on September 17. 

The training will be available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Arabic, and Korean. If interested, people can choose which session to participate in. 

Many locations throughout the city will be offering these training sessions. Some popular locations for Census training include Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, Community College of Philadelphia and more. For other sites offering the training, officials shared a map online.

“The invitation is open to all community members, teachers, block captains, religious leaders, youth, and elected officials,” said Reid. “I encourage all Philadelphians to participate. Philly Counts is working with an intentional variety of organizations to host training sessions in as many neighborhoods as possible. We want to make this accessible for everyone.”