Category: Civic Engagement

We live in eventful times. The past few years have been replete with once-in-a-lifetime events, including the many impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, historic natural disasters and a variety of galvanizing political issues in between. While reactions to these events run the gamut, their impacts have been widespread in our digitally connected world, contributing to increased engagement throughout and between communities nationwide.

Not only did more Houstonians come out to vote in 2020, many Houston-based civic and social justice organizations worked to support our residents. After all, civic engagement is more than just voting — it’s volunteering, communicating with elected officials, donating to causes and even having difficult conversations with friends and loved ones.

Engaged communities help one another, cultivate trust among residents and ensure all voices are heard. Not only can positive engagement result in the betterment of one’s community, it can also improve feelings of connectedness and reduce individual loneliness. Houston may be turning out to the polls, but how do we fare in other areas of civic engagement, and how do we compare to the rest of the nation? Let’s take a closer look.

How and when Houston votes

Voter registration rates are high and rising in the three-county region with Fort Bend (95%), Montgomery (93%) and Harris (89%) counties all significantly ahead of the state (72%) and national rates (73%). With each Houston-area county’s registration rate almost 20 percentage points higher than the national rate, it’s easy to think that Houston is especially engaged, but registering to vote is only the first step toward electoral participation.

Voter participation among those who have registered in the region, is still far behind the national rate, despite significant upticks in the three counties during the 2020 election.

Fort Bend County has the highest turnout rate among those who registered at 74%, yet is still almost 18 percentage points behind the national average of 92%. Although registration rates and turnout rates were both notably high for the 2020 election, the disparity between turnout among those registered in the region and the nation was not.

If the voting-age population is consistently registering to vote, what could stop them from casting a ballot? Some argue that a lack of competitive races in the more visible governmental offices dissuades Texans from casting a ballot. In the 2018 primaries, 83% of voters did not cast a ballot, and one of Texas’ U.S. Senate seats — in a state with an estimated population of 28 million residents in 2018 — was secured with fewer than 775,000 votes.

Research suggests that offering early voting is a viable way to increase voter turnout, but the Houston region’s voters already vote early. While early voting has recently become more popular all over the nation, voters in the Houston area choose early voting at a rate higher than the national average. More than half of the votes were cast during the early voting period for every election in the past 12 years in the three-county region, with early votes representing 88% of all votes in 2020.

Research has shown that Americans are more likely to vote if they know and understand the process, if the rules and regulations are easy to navigate and if they believe their vote “matters.” According to the Cost of Voting Index (COVI), Texas has not kept pace with many common reforms to voting processes like absentee voting and online voter registration, making it one of the most difficult states in the nation for a resident to cast a ballot. Texas was 50th on the 2020 COVI but has since risen to 46th, mostly on the strength of a full 13-day early voting period.

Charitable giving and volunteering

Public charities don’t just help those in need through acts of service and donations, they also give residents a platform for contributing to and engaging with causes that matter to them. The Houston region has a robust nonprofit sector (over 15,660 nonprofit public charities in 2020), and although many charitable organizations serve the region, the number of charities per 10,000 residents is lower in Greater Houston than in the state and nation.

Nonprofit organizations operate largely on individual philanthropy, and Houstonians are no strangers to charitable donations. Charitable donations are an important component of engagement; when people feel engaged in their communities, they are more likely to contribute to its improvement. Nearly half of Greater Houston residents claimed to have donated at least $25 to charitable organizations in 2019, which puts Houston somewhere in the middle of other major metros with a higher percentage of residents donating $25 or more a month than in New York City and Los Angeles, but less than in Austin, Atlanta and Chicago.

Much like having a significant nonprofit network, a community with a strong contingency of volunteers is likely to stay supported and engaged. Residents of the nine-county Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) volunteer less frequently than others at the state and the national level. About 30% of people who volunteer across the state and the nation do so less than once a month, compared with 38% of volunteers in the Houston MSA. In keeping with national trends, volunteer rates in Harris County fell 14 percentage points (54% to 40%) from 2020 to 2021, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Civic and social engagement

In addition to financial contributions made through charities, residents also provide direct service in their communities as members of civic organizations. Membership in civic and social organizations (which include non-profits, charities and advocacy groups) is another way to engage with a community and increase social connectedness. Social connectedness is the experience of belonging within a social relationship or network, not just within personal relationships, but within professional and community networks and beyond. Similar to the region’s large nonprofit network, Houston’s coalition of civic social organizations lags significantly behind the state and nation in the number of organizations per 100,000 residents.

In 2019, the three-county region had 3.2 civic social membership organizations per 100,000 residents. Texas, in comparison, had 5.2 per 100,000, and the U.S. 7.8 per. While it doesn’t nullify the stark contrast in access to these organizations, the number of organizations in the region has been rising, while those in the state and nation have been falling.

Actions may speak louder than words, but communicating with elected officials past election day is an important component of the democratic process. Unfortunately, it’s one many Houston-area residents don’t take advantage of.

In 2019, 6.5% of residents in the Houston MSA reported contacting their public officials at least once per year. Though marginally higher than the state rate of 6.4%, the Houston MSA does lag behind the national average of 9.3%. Although reaching out to elected officials does not always translate into legislative action, elected officials who do not hear from their constituents are deprived of the opportunity to understand how their policy ideas may affect our communities.

Why being engaged matters

Active participation in one’s community promotes deeper connections between residents and is the first step in creating a region that provides everyone the opportunity to reach their full potential. But without important information about the region’s different communities, we lack the full picture of what our residents are facing. The U.S. Census recently reported that they likely missed more than a half-million Texans during the 2020 count, representing an immense amount of people that were left unaccounted for, and therefore not advocated for. 

Census data is used to shape infrastructure and policy at every level of government. A study found that the 2010 Census was used to direct $101.6 billion toward federally funded programs at state and local governments, businesses, nonprofits, hospitals and households. Census data determines the number of funds allocated to everything from creating opportunities for jobseekers to deciding how relief funds will be distributed in the event of a disaster.

The issue of undercounting on the Census is an issue of underrepresentation, as the groups who are considered hard to count, and therefore the most likely to be systematically undercounted, include people of color, immigrants, refugees and people experiencing homelessness.

Houston is engaged, but more work remains

Comprehensive civic engagement requires not just individual, but organizational effort and attention. Having more Houston-area voices heard in our elections and other civic processes helps ensure that our region can achieve its full potential, and hearing from a more diverse set of perspectives ensures that more diverse needs are met.

Not all elections are nationally publicized, but they are all important. Though the 2022 midterms have some highly watched races on the ballot, it will be just as important that residents vote in subsequent, less visible elections. After all, our region is more than just its mayor and governor — it’s our judges, council members, school boards, sanitation leaders, local ordinances and so much more. Whether this year’s election is your first or your 51st, we encourage you to check what’s on the ballot and engage thoughtfully. Every vote, volunteer hour and voice matters — don’t let yours go unheard.

The year 2020 has been defined by significant change. From the many disruptions and adjustments associated with the COVID-19 pandemic to the renewed and evolving conversations surrounding racial injustice in America, each month has brought with it new reasons to reflect on and adapt to the shifting circumstances we’re all facing. Amidst these many challenges is another galvanizing moment — the 2020 election. 

In addition to the presidential election, a number of state and local offices are on the ballot, and a record-setting number of registered voters in Texas are heading to the polls to make their voices heard. And while no one can truly predict the outcome of an election, we can examine previous trends to understand what lies ahead — both encouraging and troubling — when it comes to civic and electoral participation in Houston.

The total number of registered voters increased in all three counties between 2016 and 2018.

More than 3.1 million people were registered to vote in Greater Houston during the 2018 midterm elections. Between 2016 and 2018, the number of registered voters increased between 5% and 6%. Voter registration in Greater Houston grew faster than the rate for Texas (4.6%) and defied a national downward trend, as national voter registration fell by 3% during the same time period.  

Voter registration’s upward trend continues heading into the 2020 elections. As of October 12, 2020, Harris County has a record-high 2,468,559 registered voters — a 4.7% increase over 2018. 

While increased voter registration inherently suggests increased engagement, voter turnout is the ultimate indicator of participation in our democractic system. Not only were more people registered to vote in the Houston area in 2018, they also voted at higher rates.

Voter turnout has remained steady for the last three presidential elections.

Voter turnout in the three-county region has remained flat over the last three presidential elections, with the highest turnout rates consistently in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. However, changes in voter participation during midterm elections tell a very different story.

More than half of registered voters in the three-county region voted in the 2018 midterm elections.

Fewer than half of registered voters — in the three-county region and across the nation — participated in the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections. However, voter turnout in 2018 surged nearly 20 percentage points in all three counties, with 53% to 59% of registered voters in each county casting a ballot. 

While it’s still too early to tally overall voter turnout for the 2020 election, early voting data suggests that the trends exhibited in midterm turnout and voter registration may continue into the presidential election, with record turnouts recorded for early voting in Harris County multiple days in a row. 

Residents in Greater Houston are more likely to vote now than in recent history. This is true despite the fact that numerous barriers — both in Texas and Greater Houston — present significant challenges and obstacles to voting.  A recent study found that the cost of voting for Texas residents is the highest in the nation, based primarily on policies that make voting more difficult and time consuming. Consequently, Texas’ voting laws disproportionately affect Black residents and other people from historically marginalized backgrounds and could potentially undermine future civic enthusiasm.

Disparities in voter registration in Greater Houston

Despite recent growth in overall voter registration, some groups are less likely to register than others. Greater Houston sees disparities in voter registration along race/ethnicity, nativity status, and educational attainment.

Black voters in the three-county region have the highest voter registration rate. . 

While 70.4% of eligible Black residents and 68.0% of eligible white residents in Greater Houston were registered to vote in 2016, only 52.3% of eligible Hispanic residents were registered. The data indicate that citizens with higher levels of education tend to register to vote at the highest rate.

What happens after the elections?

While increased civic interaction, engagement and mobilization are to be expected during an election cycle, what happens after the polls close is arguably just as important. Our democractic system is rooted in the ideal that elected officials represent the needs of their constituents in our country’s high offices — a notion that requires trust and communication between elected officials and the people they represent. However, this isn’t always how things work out in the Houston area.

Ideally, public officials are able to hear directly from their constituents so that they can act on community concerns in the course of their duties. However, in Greater Houston, people contact elected officials at lower rates than the rest of the state and the rest of the country. 

Greater Houston residents contact elected officials at nearly half the national rate.

In Greater Houston, only 6.1% of residents contact their elected officials at least once a year, compared to 8.1% at the state level and 11.0% nationally. This translates to about one out of every 17 residents. Ideally, this would suggest that Houston residents are happy enough with their elected officials that they don’t feel they need to contact them, but a survey of Houston-area residents found otherwise.

Houston-area residents are mostly split on whether or not they trust their local governments. 

When asked whether their local government can be trusted to do what’s best for the community in a 2014 survey, Houston residents had a somewhat mixed response. More than half of Harris County residents responded favorably compared to 51.9% of Fort Bend County residents and 48.8% of Montgomery County residents. More recent national data show that 20% of American adults trust the federal government to “do the right thing” almost always or most of the time.

While this doesn’t mean that elected officials can’t or don’t deliver on campaign promises and community concerns, it does indicate that our region may still have work to do in increasing positive civic engagement and confidence among all residents.

Understanding what lies ahead for Houston

As of October 19, Texas is on pace to see record-setting voter turnout in 2020, with a predicted 70% of the state’s 17 million registered voters expected to cast their ballots. Regionally, the three-county area is already recording high voter turnout; Harris County has seen record-high early voter turnout, nearly 56,000 Fort Bend County residents cast their ballots in the first three days of early voting, and nearly 48,000 early voters made their voices heard in Montgomery County during the same time period  — a new record for the county. 

Ensuring that this increased enthusiasm at the polls translates to meaningful engagement within our communities requires continued education and open conversations throughout the year — not just during election cycles. Understanding Houston is designed to help our region do just that by connecting people with key data about life in our communities, extending our platform to guest bloggers and sharing the latest updates with our followers on social media.

Help us keep the engagement alive; follow us on your favorite social media platform, learn how you can get involved, and help us continue to do what matters in our communities. 

Back in October when the world was blissfully ignorant of something called “COVID-19,” Understanding Houston featured a blog on the importance of the 2020 Census from Frances Valdez, Executive Director of Houston in Action. In her blog, Ms. Valdez highlights the importance of counting each individual living in the region and explains the challenges associated with this endeavor. 

But since then, much has changed. Ensuring a complete population count, an elaborate process under the best of circumstances, is made even more challenging by the ongoing global pandemic. At the same time, the emergence of COVID-19 is itself a bold reminder of the importance of the census.

In no uncertain terms, when we undercount our population in the census, we leave much-needed money on the table. Learn how these missing funds could impact our region, why some groups are more difficult to count than others, and find out what you can do to be counted and support others working to ensure we all count. 

The impact of the census in Houston

The U.S. Constitution mandates a count of its citizens every decade, the results of which determine the number of seats states get in the House of Representatives, inform the division of congressional and state legislative districts, and allocate hundreds of billions of federal dollars every year to states and municipalities for schools, hospitals, roads, and more. 

About 300 federal programs like Head Start, Medicaid, Community Development Block Grants, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) use census-derived figures to allocate more than $800 billion a year to states.¹

A recent report from the Greater Houston Partnership found the results of the 2010 Census directed:

• $101.6 billion toward federally funded programs to Texas governments (state and local), businesses, nonprofits, hospitals, and households.
• More than $346 million (nearly 25% of all census-guided education funds to Texas) to the Greater Houston region.
• More than 25% of the state’s share of funds from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) to the Gulf Coast region. WIOA is designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training and support services to find jobs, and to match employers with trained workers.

Census data also play a crucial role in emergency response and recovery efforts in times of disaster, such as Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic. The data helps planners prepare for possible risk scenarios and informs where the federal government should allocate resources in an emergency.

Given that billions of dollars are allocated based on statistics from the census, an undercount leaves millions of critical dollars on the table. The George Washington Institute of Public Policy found that a one percent undercount would cost Texas $292 million in one year alone — more than any other state.² Over the course of a decade, that totals nearly $3 trillion dollars that Texas could have used for critical services like Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Title IV-E Foster Care, Title IV-E Adoption Assistance, and the Child Care and Development Fund. Three trillion dollars is most certainly a low-ball estimate as funds devoted to these five programs typically make up half of the total amount states get from the federal government.

Hard-to-count Houston-area populations in the 2020 census

Correctly counting 330 million people over 3.5 million square miles is no small feat.³ The Census Bureau employs special methods to evaluate the accuracy of the final census figures which reveal some groups are harder to count than others. For example, the Bureau estimates a 4.88% undercount for American Indian and Alaskan Native populations living on reservations, a 2.03% undercount among African Americans/Blacks, and 1.54% undercount among Hispanics/Latinos.

Historically, populations hardest to count include individuals from diverse backgrounds, immigrants and refugees, children under the age of five, people experiencing homelessness, college students, the LGBTQ+ community, renters, and those living in complex households (e.g., multiple families or unrelated individuals living together).

States and communities with a larger presence of hard-to-count groups are more likely to experience a larger undercount in general, particularly when groups intersect (for example, young children of immigrant families of color). 

Both Texas and Houston have a larger share of young people, immigrants and non-Whites than the nation. Most notably, Fort Bend County’s population under five years old has doubled  — significantly higher than growth in any other county, the state and the nation. Nearly one out of four residents was born outside the U.S. Two-thirds of our region is non-White compared to 40% of the U.S.

The Center for Urban Research estimates that one in four Texans belongs to a hard-to-count population, and approximately 21% of the  population in Houston’s three largest counties (1.2 million people) lives in hard-to-count neighborhoods (defined as areas where the self-response rate was less than 74% in 2010). 

The graphs below show the hardest-to-count cities and towns in the three-county Greater Houston area. 

Percent of population living in hard-to-count tracts

In Fort Bend County, 100% of residents of Kendleton, Orchard, and Fifth Street live in census tracts with sub-standard response rates. Webster and Spring are hard-to-count communities in Harris County, and 89% of residents live in hard-to-count tracts in rural Cut and Shoot, Montgomery County. Explore the hardest-to-count communities using this interactive map from the Center for Urban Research at City University of New York.

Compounding complications to an accurate count in our region, many Houston-area residents are still displaced after Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Imelda. The Urban Institute estimates the population of Texas could be undercounted by anywhere between 228,600 and 576,900 people.

Accurately counting these hard-to-count communities requires additional investment. During the 2019 legislative session, Texas policy makers neglected to dedicate funds toward an accurate census count, in contrast with states like California, which has invested $187 million in ensuring a complete count. Instead, Harris County and the City of Houston have spent $5.1 million from their own budgets toward local census outreach and communication efforts. Houston In Action has been leading community-level outreach with an eye toward “cultural competency,” attempting to meet hard-to-count groups where they live, work, and play. Since the emergence of COVID-19 has required most of us to live, work, and play at home, outreach efforts have been delayed and redesigned, exacerbating challenges to a complete count, especially among historically hard-to-count groups.

Texas and the Houston region’s census self-response rates

Given the number of hard-to-count populations in our region, coupled with the state’s lack of investment in census outreach, it’s not surprising that Texas historically trails the country in taking initiative to respond to the census.⁴  In the 2010 census, the national self-response rate was 66.5%, compared to 64.4% among Texans. Texas, the second most populous state, ranked 34th among states on this measure.

Harris County — the third most populous county in the nation — doesn’t do much better than the state. Not quite two-thirds of households in Harris County responded to the 2010 census, placing Harris 15th among the 25 most populous counties in the nation in census response rates. Conversely, Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties are high performers. In 2010, Fort Bend County had the second-highest response rate in the state at 72.1%. Montgomery County ranked 17th at 67.5%. For comparison, Harris County was 38th in Texas.

History is repeating itself as Texas continues to lag behind the overall national response to the ongoing 2020 census, ranking 38 among states at time of publication. As of May 9, the national response rate was 58.5% while Texas lags at 53.1%. Among the three-county Greater Houston area, Harris County trails with a response rate of only 52.6% while 65.0% of Fort Bend households have completed the census.

How you can help Houston count

An accurate census count is incredibly important for our communities, and being counted can be surprisingly simple. Help by completing the census if you have not already. For most, the process takes about 10 minutes and can be completed online, by phone, or through the mail. Details below. Also, please consider supporting Houston in Action’s census outreach efforts in a variety of ways.

• Online: Visit my2020census.gov to fill out the census questionnaire.This is the only website you should use to answer census questions. 

• By phone: For English speakers, dial 844-330-2020, and for Spanish speakers, dial 844-468-2020. The Bureau also offers 11 other languages. For a full list of phone numbers by language, visit www.2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond/responding-by-phone. The phone lines are open every day from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Central Time.

• By mail: Most households should have received their invitation to respond to the 2020 Census as of March 20. The invitation contains information on how to respond and a Census ID for completing the census online. Homes in areas that are less likely to respond online will eventually receive a paper questionnaire.

The Census Bureau will never ask for a Social Security number, bank or credit card account numbers, money or donations, or anything on behalf of a political party. In 2020, it also will not ask for citizenship status; all U.S. residents regardless of immigration status may fill out the census.

Deadline: While the deadline to complete the census has been extended to October 31, 2020, why wait? Do it now. April 1 is considered Census Day, as this is the day for which we complete the survey for all people living at your residence on that day.

If you’ve already completed the Census, there are still ways you can help the Houston region be counted. 

• Houston in Action has assembled a Census Toolkit featuring a suite of free resources designed to connect vulnerable and hard-to-count populations with the information they need to complete the 2020 census. 
• The City of Houston offers a variety of free-to-share materials you can use to help educate friends, neighbors, and loved ones about the importance of the census — including email templates, social media graphics, children’s materials, and more — in six of our region’s most common languages.

The months and years following the COVID-19 pandemic will bring many new and unique challenges to our region. Don’t let Houston leave critically-needed money on the table. Be counted. Spread the word to your friends and neighbors. Let’s count all of Houston together.

End Notes:

¹ Learn more about how the federal government distributes funds here.
² An analysis of five major programs administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that comprise about 48% of funds states receive from the federal government. Visit GWIPP for more details on methodology.
³ First, households complete the census on their own (either online, by phone, or via mail). If, after multiple reminders, the household has not responded, a census taker makes a house call to collect responses in-person. As a last resort, the Bureau derives estimates using administrative records from the Internal Revenue Service or Social Security. Learn more about how the Census Bureau counts difficult-to-reach populations here.
⁴ Self-response rates are different from final response rates. Self-response includes those who respond on their own initiative online, by phone, or via mail. Final response rates include responses received in-person as a result of households being unresponsive.

Why those who need the census most may also be those it threatens.

As a Latina whose family comes from the western border of Texas with Mexico, I have always felt the tug of two identities.

The calling to civic duty runs generations deep in my family, so when the 2010 census questionnaire landed in my mailbox, I was determined to be counted. However, the answers to my questionnaire were complicated by my present and historical position as a queer woman of color living in Texas.

With relative certainty, I was able to check the box next to “Yes. Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano”, but when it came to the subsequent (required) question of “race”, I didn’t feel like I matched any of the options presented to me.

Had I had the right to legally marry, I probably would have designated my long-term, live-in partner as my “wife”, but since we were also required to include our “sex”, checking that box felt like outing ourselves to the same government that declined to legally acknowledge our partnership. So instead, we talked around our truth and settled on “roommate”.

Socially, a lot can change in ten years; and it has.

Changing dynamics and growing threats on the path to the 2020 Census

In 2011, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. In 2015, it became legal for me to marry. 

Since 2017, however, even more has changed. While life for vulnerable communities has always come with its challenges, we’ve see new threats in laws, repeals of protections, bans, and acts of violence that have emboldened discrimination and incidents of hostility toward immigrants, people from historically marginalized communities, the Muslim community and other religious minorities, as well as trans and gender non-binary folks. This has, and will continue to have, a chilling effect as communities look to protect themselves and their families.

And this is just the beginning when it comes to the challenges our region faces in our efforts to count everyone in the 2020 Census. For many people, talking about your country of origin, race and/or ethnicity can be complicated.

“The way you identify may seem excluded from the census questionnaire or may feel too risky to disclose on a government form.”

And while we’ve made great strides in the LGBTQ community, characterizing or implying one’s sexuality or gender for government documents might not be possible or feel safe for everyone in our community. 

Beyond this, the census faces other challenges like under-resourcing; some estimate that regional field offices have been reduced by half and that there will be 200,000 fewer census workers to knock on doors. The census can reconfigure political power, congressional districts and representation of states in the Electoral College. And with this, the risks associated with putting the questionnaire online for the first time are significant. Between online security issues and malicious campaigns designed to confuse or profit from vulnerable users, moving the census online comes with its challenges.

The growing risk of underrepresentation

The impact of these challenges for the census itself is increased risk of undercount in our communities. In our region, the groups who have historically been undercounted are not too dissimilar from other regions. According to early research from January Advisors, these are renters, non-white communities, households with children under five years old, those in crowded housing units, people living in poverty, as well as at-risk groups like the LGBTQ community, people experiencing homelessness, religious and ethnic minorities, and residents impacted by Hurricane Harvey. However, for the Houston region, the difference is that, as the near-third largest metropolitan area in the country, these groups and risk-factors are highly represented in our community, and are in some cases, the same groups who stand to lose the most. 

“The census affects how billions of our tax dollars will come back into our communities through federal budgeting allocations over the next decade.” 

If people are undercounted in the census, we see smaller budgets for services and programs like: public transit, highway planning and construction grants; billions of dollars in community development block grants; billions in housing related dollars, including Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and other housing assistance programs; teachers, textbooks, and other educational expenses; Title I grants that help local educational agencies serve low-income families and communities; special education grants; funds for the national school lunch program; Head Start; grants for improving teacher quality; and Community Health Centers serving low-income community members. 

An important opportunity for the Houston region

Demographically, a lot can change in ten years; and it has.

Since 2010, Houston has rapidly grown and shifted at a well-documented rate. The 2020 Census is our chance to recalibrate and keep up with the demands associated with our growing population.

It is no accident that Houston in Action, with its mission to increase access and breakdown systemic barriers to civic participation, began planning for the 2020 Census during its formation in mid-2018. The members of Houston in Action reflect the multiplicity and abundance of our region’s populace and understand first-hand what’s at stake for their communities and the region at-large if we don’t all put in the hard work of counting each and every one of our friends, families and neighbors. 

Houston in Action facilitates a first of its kind, regional Complete Count Committee, in partnership with the City of Houston and Harris County, engaging dozens of community groups and leaders to educate and energize our city toward a complete count. 

Houston in Action members are front and center in our collective effort to reach a complete count for the 2020 Census: members like BakerRipley and the hundreds they serve at their Head Start centers; community members in the care of Hope Clinic, young people of color organizing their communities with the support of organizations like United We Dream, Mi Familia Vota, and Jolt; the Houstonians affected by Harvey and served through the housing work of groups like Avenue CDC and Texas Housers, those whose communities are represented in the work of coalitions like Empowering Communities Initiative, TFN-Texas Rising, and the Houston Area Urban League; and Houston area residents who rely on our public libraries, community centers, and public schools for education and access to the internet, to name only a few of those involved in the Houston in Action 50+ member network.

It is this on-the-ground experience that has shaped our coordination around the 2020 Census. Our work is grounded in the fundamental belief that when we create a culture of organizing ourselves for the empowerment of marginalized communities, we are better prepared to identify opportunities to engage civically, influence the systems and structures that affect our lives, and improve quality of life throughout our region.

“When we create a culture of organized empowerment, we are better prepared to influence and engage with the systems that affect our quality of life.”

The 2020 Census presents a great opportunity in this effort. For over a year, we’ve been able to build important connections, have conversations and coordinate in ways that did not previously exist. Together, we have shaped common strategies, shared resources, and built foundational systems for sharing critical impact data. We’ve developed infrastructure to grow our collective capacity and unite our efforts like never before — all necessary elements in our work to shift systems and culture, and create fair access to civic participation for residents of the Houston region.

However, we know that we can’t do this without great partners and support, and that we can’t do this overnight. While our sights are set in the near-term on the decennial census and work just ahead, we are working for true systems change for generations to come. It’s the kind of change that will be incremental — but long-lasting. 

Because we know a lot can change in ten years; and it will. Together we can make it happen.

Frances Valdez is the Executive Director of Houston in Action after practicing immigration law for 13 years. Houston in Action is an initiative made up of people and organizations who have come together to advance our community forward through our respective and collective work to build a stronger Houston through a culture of civic engagement.