Ethnic Outreach. The ever-increasing diversity of Orange County’s people has challenged the ethnic subcommittee to take the lead in reaching out to the traditionally hard-to-enumerate (HTE) citizens, including the growing Hispanic, Hispanic American, African American, and Asian American populations. This task requires partnering with the various ethnic chambers of commerce. Separate task forces representing six ethnic groups have been formed within this subcommittee, and promotional activities have included an appearance by the subcommittee chairman on “Communidad 2000” (a Hispanic television show on OrangeTV, the government-access cable channel) and the displaying of census material in various languages at cultural events. Maps indicating where in the county there was a low response rate in the 1990 Census were drawn to assist the members in focusing on these areas and obtaining a higher response rate.

A member of the subcommittee will promote Census 2000 to the Caribbean community through her radio talk show. Members will produce flyers and informational posters in the Creole tongue to reach out to the Haitian community. They also will translate materials into other languages not being used by the U.S. Census Bureau. With the coordination of this subcommittee, the county has gained community leaders who will be reaching out to citizens in all the hard-to-enumerate districts.

Liaison with Local Government. Most citizens are aware that the U.S. Census Bureau is not associated with the FBI, the IRS, or any immigration or welfare agency, but there are individuals in the HTE areas who have their doubts. The members of the local government subcommittee are trying to dispel these misconceptions. They are ensuring that census information is available to citizens at all voter registration sites. County commissioners and the city council are given periodic updates of the progress of the complete count committee and of each subcommittee.

Members have produced various detailed maps for other subcommittees to aid them in obtaining pertinent information about the 1990 Census that can be used for Census 2000. The subcommittee chairman has been featured on an OrangeTV show titled “Census 2000: Are You Ready?” to inform citizens about changes that will occur in the office of the supervisor of elections once the 2000 Census has been taken. In the coming months, the subcommittee will be creating a display to be set up in each city hall early in the year 2000.

Religious Groups. In Biblical times, it was decreed that a census be taken of all citizens. Thus, the religious subcommittee is reaching out to leaders of all faith-based organizations to inform them of Census 2000 and to tell why religious leaders should become involved in the process. In the summer of 1999, members sent letters, on letterhead designed by the CCC, to the religious leaders of all faith-based organizations. Letters in Spanish were distributed to Hispanic leaders. Inserts focusing on different census topics will be mailed to these religious leaders monthly, with a request that these materials be placed in their religious publications.

This early correspondence was a critical part of the outreach program because Orange County has hundreds of faith-based groups whose congregations need to become aware of the census. In early 2000, the religious subcommittee will sponsor a Census Weekend during which all religious leaders will be encouraged to talk about the upcoming census at each service. A map identifying faith-based entities within the hard-to-enumerate areas will allow the members of the subcommittee to make personal contact with the religious leaders within these areas to encourage their participation.

Liaison with Homeowners’ Associations. Traditional neighborhood organizations have become more popular since the 1970s. Thanks to the work of another subcommittee, the Orange County Homeowners’ Association—a private, not-for-profit organization that works with homeowners’ associations—has committed itself to inserting articles in its monthly newsletter, which is distributed to the presidents of almost 200 homeowners’ groups. A request will be made to each president to include this information in his or her neighborhood newsletter.

This type of communication is important because information on Census 2000 will potentially reach thousands of citizens who live in neighborhoods with both mandatory and voluntary associations. As of early fall 1999, informational literature also was being sent to the managers of all apartment complexes in Orange County to place in their own newsletters.

Business and Civic Groups. Because business drives our economy, it is extremely important that businesspeople are included as Census 2000 partners. The business/civic groups subcommittee has focused its outreach program on the major employers in Orange County, sending letters to the top executives of these organizations to encourage their involvement in informing their employees of the importance of the upcoming census. Again, informational inserts have been mailed, with the request that they be reproduced in company newsletters. These efforts began in the summer of 1999 and have required partnering with large and small organizations alike. Over the upcoming months, members will continue to promote Census 2000 at community events and to recruit additional individuals for the speakers’ bureau, which promotes Census 2000 at monthly civic-group meetings.

Financial Matters. The finance subcommittee coordinates the allocation of the 1999–2000 budget for each subcommittee. A budget of approximately $35,515 was established to assist in promoting Census 2000. Orlando will contribute 22 percent of the total budget, based on its share of the county’s population. These funds will help pay for newsletters, letterhead stationery, envelopes, postage, posters, coloring sheets, buttons, stickers, advertising (print, radio, and billboards), display boards, and brochures.

In summer 1999, the subcommittee applied for additional funding from the Census Bureau for a special promotion. LYNX, the regional mass transit authority, painted three buses to advertise the census, with one carrying a message in Spanish. These buses will go through the HTE areas one week before Census Day, with members of the various subcommittees and possibly other community and civic leaders handing out buttons and tee-shirts.

Education. Because a large percentage of children has been undercounted in the past, the education subcommittee has been challenged to reach out to the faculty, parents, and students of all schools to ensure that a higher percentage is counted this time. This subcommittee has required partnerships with the Orange County Public School System, local colleges and universities, private schools, and the home-schooling community. In particular, the subcommittee has identified schools that are in the hard-to-enumerate areas.

Subcommittee members will continue to encourage teachers to use the census in the schools educational materials distributed by the Census Bureau to educate all age groups. Subcommittee members will promote Census 2000 with displays at PTA meetings and will request that marquees on school campuses promote the census closer to Census Day. High school students will be producing three two-minute informational videos to be shown in classrooms.

Health Care. The health care subcommittee is focusing on area hospitals, informing their employees about Census 2000 through inclusions for their employee newsletters. Hospitals can distribute the information with employee pay stubs, as well as post flyers throughout medical facilities.

The Media. The Internet and cable television are technological advances that will have far-reaching impacts on the promotion of Census 2000. By using all media outlets, the media subcommittee is fulfilling its role of ensuring that Orange County citizens become aware of Census 2000. In early 1999, through a letter campaign and subsequent phone calls, the subcommittee members recruited representatives from the local print, television, and radio media. Under development are interesting story lines that citizens can relate to.

Social Services. This subcommittee has partnered with not-for-profit social service agencies in Orange County—an extremely important outreach because many citizens who use the services and programs that these organizations provide were undercounted in the 1990 Census. A personalized flyer outlines the importance of Census 2000 to these agencies. And in the coming months, informational videos will be placed in the lobbies of many of these organizations.

Other activities that the complete count committee as a whole has sponsored include participation in the Martin Luther King Parade in January 1999. LYNX Census 2000 buses have been featured in local parades, beginning in fall 1999. The Orlando/Orange County Complete Count Committee has been recognized by the National Census Bureau Office, and in the summer of 1999, a delegation from Puerto Rico and Canada visited Orange County to become more familiar with what the CCC has accomplished.

Orange County’s Commitment
According to estimates, between 1990 and 2000, Orange County citizens will have missed out on over $42 million of federal funding, with approximately 2.33 percent of the population undercounted in the last census. Thus, the goal of the Orlando/Orange County Complete Count Committee is to begin the millennium with the county’s fair share of federal and state funding.