Bay Area

The ‘Communities for a New California’ is Working to Increase Census 2020 Awareness

Published

3 years ago

March 19, 2020

The Communities for a New California Education Fund (CNC), a non-profit 501(C) (3) human rights organization, is the administrator and community-based organization in region 4 for regional Census Business Offices. Working throughout 14 counties in Northern California, the CNC’s goal is to reach out to engage the hardest-to-count populations in those counties.

Samantha Valadez, Field Director for the CNC says her organization is primarily doing the field work to get the word out about the upcoming 2020 Census. “We’re knocking on doors, having one-on-one conversations with city residents and conducting phone banking,” said Valadez.

“We’re talking with people on an everyday basis,” added Valadez. “It’s not just a Monday through Friday work week. We also spend hours each weekend trying to reach people in those communities throughout the region which includes cities and counties of Sacramento, Stockton, Merced, Fresno and the San Joaquin, Central and Imperial Valleys.”

On a daily basis, CNC staffers reach over 4000 people to alert them about the Census and invite them to participate in the process. They’ve engaged 3000+ residents with face-to-face conversations and another 1,000 over the phone every day.

“Since July of 2019, we’ve engaged in conservations with over 155,000 families throughout our region,” said Valadez. “When we first started our operations, there were concerns over whether the citizenship question would be asked. We expected a lot of families would not participate because of this fear.”

“Once we talked to families and assured them that the question would be not asked, we diffused that fear and any other misconceptions that would have made them hesitate to cooperate in the Census. We’re really pleased with the response we’ve received from families in the region.”

Invitation to participate in the Census are currently being mailed out to residents, and respondents can fill out the Census forms now through April 1st via paper, phone or online. The purpose of the canvassing and door-knocking is to assure an accurate count in neighborhoods that are considered ‘unfinished’.

“Many ‘finished’ neighborhoods are places that families have everything they need to succeed, such as good roads, thriving schools, and readily-available medical services. These neighborhoods did not necessarily receive as much canvassing as the unfinished neighborhoods,” said Valadez.

“Our heaviest canvassing has taken place in neighborhoods where we want to ensure residents continue to receive services such as after-school programs, transportation, Medicaid and Medicare, neighborhood community programs and affordable housing.”

“In addition to our phone-banking and canvassing, together with our partners, we’ve also made available a vast array of 30-second videos in several different languages about the Census that residents can view online or by phone,” Valadez noted. “They are an added value to the work that we’re doing in the field. The videos were created to combat language barriers in communities where people primarily speak their native languages.”

For more information on 2020 Census activities in counties throughout the San Joaquin Valley and surrounding areas, please contact Ms. Valadez at samanth@cncedfund.org or the local census office in your neighborhood.

Related Topics:2020 census The Communities for a New California Education Fund (CNC)

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Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 – 30, 2023

Published

2 days ago

May 26, 2023

Oakland Post

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 24 - 30, 2023

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Activism

Rise in Abductions of Black Girls in Oakland Alarms Sex-Trafficking Survivors

Nola Brantley of Nola Brantley Speaks states, “America’s wider culture and society has consistently failed to address the abduction and kidnapping of Black girls in Oakland and across the country, and this lack of concern empowers and emboldens predators.”

Published

1 week ago

May 20, 2023

Oakland Post

Nola Brantley and Sarai Smith-Mazariegos

By Tanya Dennis

Within the last 30 days there have been seven attempted kidnappings or successful abductions of Black girls in Oakland.

Survivors of human trafficking who are now advocates are not surprised.

Nor were they surprised that the police didn’t respond, and parents of victims turned to African American community-based organizations like Adamika Village and Love Never Fails for help.

Advocates say Black and Brown girls disappear daily, usually without a blip on the screen for society and government officials.

Perhaps that will change with a proposed law by state Senator Steven Bradford’s Senate Bill 673 Ebony Alert, that, if passed, will alert people when Black people under the age of 26 go missing.

According to the bill, Black children are disproportionately classified as “runaways” in comparison to their white counterparts which means fewer resources are dedicated to finding them.

Brantley, a survivor of human trafficking has been doing the work to support child sex trafficking victims for over 20 years, first as the director for the Scotlan Youth and Family Center’s Parenting and Youth Enrichment Department at Oakland’s DeFremery Park, and as one of the co-founders and executive director of Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth (MISSSEY, Inc.)

“It really hit home in 2010,” said Brantley, “before California’s Welfare Institution Code 300 was amended to include children victimized by sex trafficking.”

Before that law was amended, she had to vehemently advocate for Black and Brown girls under the age of 18 to be treated as victims rather than criminalized.

Brantley served hundreds of Black and Brown girls citing these girls were victims so they would be treated as such and offered restorative services. “To get the police to take their disappearances seriously and file a report almost never happened,” she said.

Then Brantley received a call from the Board of Supervisors regarding a “special case.” A councilman was at the meeting, as well as a member of former Alameda County Board Supervisor Scott Haggerty’s Office who had called Brantley to attend.

“The child’s parents and the child were there also. They requested that I give my full attention to this case. The girl was white and there was no question of her victimization,” Brantley said.

Brantley felt conflicted that of all the hundreds of Black and Brown girls she’d served, none had ever received this type of treatment.

Her eyes were opened that day on how “they” move, therefore with the recent escalation of kidnapping attempts of Black girls, Brantley fears that because it’s happening to Black girls the response will not be taken seriously.

Councilwoman Treva Reid

“I thank Councilwoman Treva Reid and Senator Steven Bradford (D) for pushing for the passing of the Ebony Alert Bill across the state so that the disappearance of Black girls will be elevated the same as white girls. We’ve never had a time when Black girls weren’t missing. Before, it didn’t matter if we reported it or if the parents reported the police failed to care.”

Senator Steven Bradford

Sarai S-Mazariegos, co-founder of M.I.S.S.S.E.Y, and founder and executive director of Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment (S.H.A.D.E.) agrees with Brantley.

“What we are experiencing is the effects of COVID-19, poverty and a regressive law that has sentence the most vulnerable to the sex trade,” S-Mazariegos said. “We are seeing the lack of equity in the community, the cause and consequence of gender inequality and a violation of our basic human rights. What we are seeing is sexual exploitation at its finest.”

Both advocates are encouraged by Bradford’s Ebony Alert.

The racism and inequity cited has resulted in the development of an underground support system by Brantley, S-Mazariegos and other community-based organizations who have united to demand change.

Thus far they are receiving support from Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and Oakland City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato Bas and Reid of the second and seventh districts respectively.

For more information, go to http://www.blackandmissinginc.com