Census Bureau Regional Director Meets with Executive Director of PCDC
PHILADELPHIA, PA – On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, Fernando Armstrong, the Regional Director of the U.S. Census Bureau (apart of the U.S. Department of Commerce), met with John Chin, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC), to discuss how the Census Bureau and PCDC can work together to get an accurate count of all individuals who are living in the Chinatown area. Ms. Grace Kong, a Partnership Specialist, initiated the meeting on behalf of the Census Bureau.
The United States Constitution mandates that every ten years the United States government count each and every person living in this country, both adults and children. Based on the data collected regarding the population, congressional seats are allocated among the states. In addition, the information is also used to guide the federal government in distributing federal funds to support families, seniors, children, nonprofit organizations, corporations and small businesses, states and local governments, and many others.
Mr. Armstrong had the following to say, “The Census Bureau conducts a complete count of every person living in the United States every 10 years, and our partners are essential to the success of a complete and accurate census. Our partners have the ability to deliver the 2020 Census message so that it is heard by every resident within the Asian communities of Philadelphia. Responding to the 2020 Census will help communities receive their fair share of more than $675 billion in federal funding that is distributed to states and communities each year.”
For the first time, since the first census of 1790, individuals in 2020 will be able to submit their responses by going online or answering by phone. (Printed questionnaires will be available upon request.) Because the decennial census will occur next year, in 2020, the Census Bureau has been actively reaching out to various communities this year (2019), to share information and to partner with community leaders, in an effort to ensure a “full count”.
The Census Bureau’s mission is to serve as the nation’s leading provider of quality data about its people and economy.
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation is a local nonprofit 501(c)(3) community development corporation established in 1966 with a mission to preserve, protect and promote Philadelphia’s Chinatown as a viable ethnic, residential and business community.
