Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 27, Number 3, 1 March 2010 — Road Tour coming to a town near you [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Road Tour coming to a town near you

By Momi Imaikalani Fernandez This is Census 2010 month! This month is the eulminahon of dedicated Census 2010 employees and partners working together toward a complete count.

I Remember to mail your response as soon as you complete it, no later than April 1 to avoid a house visit. Eaeh island's Complete Count Committees have been working hard to bring awareness and education to employees and the general puhlie through community and special events. State, county and some private employees will be receiving Census 2010 reminders attached to their pay stubs in March. Thanks to the City and County of Honolulu, TheBus has posted monthly bus posters to informriders about Census 2010. Eaeh and every effort will make a difference in this decennial campaign. Increasing the mail response rate from the dismal 61 percent in Census 2000 has been a major focus for many passionate advocates in Hawai'i. Since Census 2000, Hawai'i has missed out on $300 million dollars directly associated to the previous low response rate. Every avenue of eommunication has been utilized to get out such messages as: BE COUNTED, IT'S IN OUR HANDS, FILL IN YOUR FUTURE, HAS YOUR 'OHANA BEEN

COUNTED?, WE CAN'T MOVE FORWARD UNTIL YOU MAIL IT BACK, WE NEED TO BE COUNTED, WE NEED TO BE HEARD and NAU KE KULEANA. Additional posters and fliers have been made available in seven languages. Questions Assistance Centers (QAC): University of Hawai'i-Mānoa Student Services Center, March 19 to April 19 will help students and faculty who dorm, including foreign students, who need to be counted. For information on other statewide QAC locations, visit papaolalokahi.org, eliek on Data & Info, Census 2010, then QAC. The Census 20 10 Road Tour (look for the Census 2010 van) kicked off its island-to-island schedule on Feb. 12. The Road Tour will remain on O'ahu until March 6. The purpose of the Road Tour is to increase awareness and bring educational materials to hard-to-count areas and popular gathering places.

All Road Tour schedules are subject to change. Hawai'i Island: The Hawai'i Road Tour is scheduled to begin visits on March 20 to 27, stopping in the districts of North and South Kōhala, Hāmākua, North and South Hilo, Puna, Ka'ū, North and South Kona. In support of Census 2010 campaign, Mayor

Kenoi issued a Proclamation early last year. Maui: The Maui Road Tour kicks off March 8 at the mayor's office in Wailuku. The schedule runs through March 15, visiting the land of Pi'ilani from mauka to makai. Moloka'i: Outreach on Moloka'i by van will begin March 4 at Maunaloa Elementary. On March 6 the van continues on Moloka'i-nui-ā-Hina at the Moloka'i Middle School Bazaar and Mana'e Goods & Grindz. Residents have applied for Census 2010 employment and ongoing efforts for a complete count on Moloka'i have been underway for months. Kaua'i: The Kaumuali'i Road Tour is scheduled fromMarch 15 to 21, kieking off at the mayor's office on the 15th with the signing of a Census 20 10 Proclamation. In coordination with the Road Tour, a Census 2010 Kaua'i Counts puhlie event will be held March 20 at Kukui Grove Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information about the Road Tour schedule and coordinating events, visit kauai.gov and eliek on the U.S. Census 2010 logo. Lāna'i: On April 3 a

"2010: Lāna'i Counts!" event will be held at Dole Park and Lāna'i Community Center. Census 2010 promotional and translated materials in Iloeano will be available. This sole event is bringing partners together with a single focus. We look forward to a complete count on Ka'ululā'au. Let's maintain the high standard set by our kūpuna by retuming our Census 2010 response by April 1. Nāu Ke Kuleana! ■ Momi Imaikalani Fernandez is the director ofthe ^ Data and Information/Census Information Center M at Papa Ola Lōkahi, a Native Hawaiian Heallh nonprofit. John " 'Ioane " Ho 'omanawanui, /jSi a Hawaiian Language Partnership Specialist g/A \ for the census, contributed editing. This is the IĒUU fifth in a series on the census in Hawai'i, ifm Ieading up to Census 2010.

featuring native hawaiian news, features and events ka wai ola | the living water of OHA

kaiāulu:ūmmun Census in Hawai jk

^United States Census 2010

Special Delivery Census 2010 forms will arrive in mailboxes

soon after March 15. With only 10 questions, it is one of the shortest census questionnaires since the census began in 1790. The questionnaire asks about eaeh household member, including things like name, age and date of birth, and race - including a Native Hawaiian category - and about the household in general. The census form takes about 10 minutes to complete, and everyone is encouraged to fill them out and mail them back in the prepaid stamped envelope by April 1 . The census takes a count of the nation's population onee every decade and provides the basis for how mueh money the state willreceive fromthe federal government for schools, roads, bridges, puhlie works projects, senior centers, emergency services, disaster relief, hospitals and community hloek grants. It also helps determine congressional boundaries and the number of seats a state has in Congress. For more on the 2010 Census, watch OHA's TV show Ho 'oulu Lāhui Aloha: To Raise a BeIoved Nation at 7 p.m. March 18 on 'Ōlelo TV ehannel 53. Repeats March 25. Or, watch it live or on demand online at olelo.org. The roundtable discussion will also show on Neighbor Island puhlie access stations. Check your loeal listings.

A Census 201 0 van like this one will be visiting all the islands to increase awareness and encourage participation. - Photo: Courtesy ofthe U.S. Census Bureau, Puhlie lnformation Office