Background
The Census takes place every ten years and is the mechanism through which we are able to calculate the demographics of our neighborhoods. Our community receives over $12,000 in additional resources and federal funding for every additional person counted in the census. That includes funding for schools, housing, public transportation and infrastructure. In the 2000 census the return rates for our communities were as follows: Rogers Park 53%, Uptown 58%, and Edgewater 62%. The majority of those left unaccounted for were low-income people of color. ONE and its members are working to ensure that all of our community members are counted and that the census data is more representative of our community.

Outreach
ONE is working with our members and parents in the public schools to build leadership, conduct outreach to other parents, and integrate information about the Census in the curriculum of the schools. Specifically, we are working with sixteen schools on the north side to ensure that the families within their schools are counted in the Census. ONE is also working with nonprofits that serve low-income individuals as well as the homeless and formerly incarcerated to ensure that they assist clients in completing the census information.