AUSTIN, Texas — Editors note: The attached video is related to a story regarding new census offices opening in Austin.
United Way for Greater Austin announced on Thursday that the organization awarded $395,000 in grants to 17 partners in efforts to prevent undercounting in the 2020 census.
United Way said that in Central Texas, a 1% undercount would cause a $25 million loss in federal funding throughout the next decade based on estimates from the 2010 census.
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According to United Way, Texas is at risk of an undercount due to its large populations of hard-to-count people, including young children, immigrants, rural residents and the homeless.
“If the people in our community are undercounted, our region risks cuts to programs that our entire community relies on," said Mariana Salazar, Census 2020 project director at United Way for Greater Austin. "We need an accurate count so Central Texans can get an adequate level of federal funding for public programs and a fair amount of representation in our local, state, and federal governments.”
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The grants were funded by several local foundations. The groups receiving the grants include grassroots organizations, service providers and complete count committees from five Central Texas counties, including Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. "Hard-to-count communities" in those counties will be targeted through the grants.
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