NEW UNITED WAY BAY AREA GRANTS TO LOCAL NONPROFITS WORKING ON CENSUS 2020 BRING TOTAL TO $1.5 MILLION

SAN FRANCISCO (January 15, 2020)—United Way Bay Area(UWBA), the state-designated, regional Administrative Community-Based Organization (ACBO) for Census 2020, has completed a second round of funding awards for nonprofit, community-based organizations leading grassroots efforts to support a complete count of Bay Area residents. An additional 34 organizations received funding for their outreach to hard-to-count communities, bringing the total of UWBA grants and subcontracts to $1,504,500 awarded to 91 organizations. In addition to outreach and education on the census, the funding will support the operations of more than 80 Questionnaire Assistance Centers across the Bay Area between March and July 2020.

“United Way Bay Area’s Census team conducted an intensive gap analysis to determine which local populations would not be covered by the outreach funded in the first round of grants,” said Stephanie Kim, UWBA’s senior director of Census 2020. “Our second RFP to fill the gaps received 100 submissions from nonprofits requesting a total $1.6 million, which shows the high level of engagement in the complete count effort. Leveraging our gap analysis and coordination with County Complete Count partners, we chose to invest in more organizations reaching hard-to-count people including those experiencing homelessness, the LGBTQ+ population and African American communities across the Bay Area.”

The UWBA grants will fund critical outreach such as door-to-door canvassing and phone banks as well as education in hard-to-count communities. Some of the most interesting and creative outreach efforts are being developed by public libraries. For example, the San Jose Public Library is using their Maker[Space]Ship as a mobile census station and is incorporating census information into story times to reach children and their caregivers.

Background

UWBA was selected through a competitive application process to serve as the ACBO for the State of California’s Complete Count efforts and was awarded a $2.8 million contract to support a complete and accurate count in the seven-county Bay Area region (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano counties). UWBA has now distributed more than $1.5 million in grants and subcontracts to support and amplify the work of dozens of community-based organizations doing census outreach in their local communities. The remaining funds are being used to create regional resources that will enhance all outreach efforts, including a census education campaign in 12 languages, a unique “opt-in” texting program for residents, media buys and technical assistance.

UWBA is working diligently with funding teams in every county and with the Bay Area Census Funders Collaborative—a partnership of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the East Bay Community Foundation, Northern California Grant makers and numerous other funders—to help ensure a fair and complete 2020 census count

UWBA “Bay Area Counts 2020” Round 2 Grantees:

• Alameda Food Bank

• Asian American Center of Santa Clara County

• Asian Refugees United

• Bay Area 211

• Berkeley Bay Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

• Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church

• Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County

• Community Child Care Coordinating Council of Alameda County

• Compton’s Transgender Cultural District

• Contra Costa Crisis Center

• Daly City Peninsula Partnership Collaborative

• East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

• Eden I&R

• Eritrean Community Center of Santa Clara

• Gardner Family Health Network, Inc. d.b.a Gardner Health Services

• Korean American Community Services

• Lao Family Community Development, Inc.

• Lavender Seniors of the East Bay

• LifeMoves

• Marin County Free Library

• North East Medical Services (NEMS)

• Oasis Legal Services

• Operation Access

• Pacifica Resource Center

• Parent Services Project

• Performing Stars of Marin

• Priority Africa Network

• Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center

• Support Life Foundation

• The Ethiopian Community Services Inc.

• The San Jose Public Library Foundation

• The Spahr Center

• TransWomen for TransWomen

• United Indian Nations, Inc.

Total Grantees: 34

Total of Round 2 Awards: $392,500

About United Way Bay Area

United Way Bay Area (UWBA) fights for financial stability and equal opportunity for residents in eight Bay Area counties. UWBA takes an innovative, holistic approach to ending the cycle of poverty through advocacy and programs that support all ages—providing free access to family support, financial and career coaching, job opportunities and basic needs. www.uwba.org