The 2010 Census: Vital to Your Future

In March 2010, the Census Bureau will mail questionnaires to more than 130 million addresses across the nation. One of the shortest census forms in history, the 2010 Census questionnaire asks 10 questions and takes about 10 minutes to complete. Completing your census questionnaire is easy, important and safe and your participation is essential to ensuring a brighter tomorrow for our communities.  Click here to view a sample 2010 Census Questionnaire.

Required once every 10 years by the U.S. Constitution, the census will count every person living in the United States, both citizens and noncitizens. Census data is  used to reapportion the U.S. House of Representatives, re-district each state and determine the distribution of the Electoral College. Census data also directly affects how more than $400 billion per year in federal funding is distributed to state, local and tribal governments. Most importantly, census data is critical in determining locations for new hospitals, improving schools, building new roads, expanding public transportation options and creating new maps for emergency responders.

By participating in the census, you can help create a better future for you and those important to you. Complete and return your form when it arrives. To learn more, visit 2010census.gov.

About the Census

Why do we take the Census?

The U.S. Constitution requires a national census once every 10 years. The census shows state population counts and determines the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives for each state. All residents of the United States are counted including people of all ethnic groups, both citizens and non-citizens.

What's at Stake?

• Census data is used for a variety of purposes including appropriating money to the state and local communities, apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and helping to guide and inform community decisions.
• Every year the federal government allocates more than $400 billion to the states and communities based partly on census data. Funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation, child care, senior citizen centers and much more.
• Based on a Brookings Institute study, Missouri received $1,327 per person in federal aid which was allocated based on census counts. This would equate to a loss of $1.3 million for each 100 persons missed in 2010 census over the next decade. An undercount of 100,000 people would equal $130 million.
• Missouri is on the cusp of losing a Congressional Seat. If Missouri does lose a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, it is forecasted to be by less than 1 percent of the total population. In 2000, Missouri's response rate was 69 percent.

2010 Census Questionnaire: Quick, Easy and Confidential

• With only 10 questions, the 2010 Census questionnaire is one of the shortest questionnaires in history and takes just 10 minutes to complete.
• By law, the Census Bureau cannot share an individual's census questionnaire responses with anyone, including other federal agencies and law enforcement entities.

2010 Census Jobs!

To apply for a census job, call toll free 1-866-861-2010. For more information on the 2010 Census, visit http://www.census.gov/2010census/.

Contact

Put Your Best Foot Forward

As we start off the New Year, we all want to put our best foot forward.  There’s just something about the changing of the calendar that makes us feel like we can do something different, be something different, achieve something different. 

In this blog series, “Put Your Best Foot Forward” we will look at the wisdom of Solomon.  We will begin in the third chapter of Proverbs.

Wisdom, what is wisdom?  Wisdom is an approach to life, for the Israelites it was a way of living out their commitments with God in logical and deliberate ways.  The wisdom literature of ancient Hebrew days was concerned with how to live everyday—the dangers of gossip, the value of work, family and community and tackled the questions of life that we deal with even today—why do the wicked prosper and why do the good struggle.

Mind, Body, Spirit, Finances, Family!

Walking With the Lord!