U.S. Census “Portrait of America” Road Tour at IIRI

You’re Invited!

U.S. Census “Portrait of America” Road Tour at IIRI

Please join state and local officials along with representatives of the U.S. Census this Saturday morning March 20th from 10:30 am to 1 pm when the U.S. Census Van will be visiting IIRI, bringing information about the Census to community members.

The goal of the tour is to encourage people to complete and return the census this month. Live entertainment, refreshments and interactive van activities will be featured.

As a U.S. Census partner, IIRI has provided ongoing support to the U.S. Census as a testing and training site for census workers. Students at IIRI have participated in a mock census to prepare to fill out their census forms, and all community members visiting IIRI have access to census information in a variety of languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Khmer, and Nepali.

A complete count of community members is of vital importance to Rhode Island. Every year, the federal government can allocate more than $300 billion to states and communities based, in part, on census data. Census data guide local decision-makers on where to build new roads, hospitals, child-care and senior citizen centers, schools and more. Census data determine how many seats each state will have in the U.S. House of Representatives.

With only 10 questions, the 2010 census questionnaire takes just 10 minutes to complete. Information collected by the U.S. Census is completely confidential and is never shared with other federal agencies or law enforcement entities. U.S. Census questionnaires are being delivered or mailed to households this month.
IIRI encourages everyone to complete and return their U.S. Census forms. Let’s all be counted!

For more information about the event or other IIRI activities supporting the U.S. Census, please contact Michelle DePlante at 401-784-8644 or mdeplante@iiri.org.