US Cambodians Urged To Join Census

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C Friday, 07 May 2010

“That’s why we are working hard to make all our brothers and sisters understand the importance, especially those elderly who have received money [like welfare and social security] since they came to the US.”

As the US completes a new national census, one group in California is working to have more Cambodian-Americans participate and gain the benefits of better representation.

Sara Pol-Lim, executive director of the United Cambodian Community, a group based in Long Beach, told “Hello VOA” on Thursday Cambodians can benefit politically, economically and socially by taking part in the census.

An estimated 300,000 Cambodians live in the US, but only about 100,000 show up on the census, she said. That means they lose a voice within their communities and government.

For instance, the US government looks at the numbers of immigrants from different countries when it determines budgets, and having more people on a census can also mean better representation in the House of Representatives, she said.

A more accurate census can lead to more jobs and attract businesses and investment targeted to specific communities. In California, that can mean benefits for a high percentage of Asians, from China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, as well as Cambodia.

“That’s why we are working hard to make all our brothers and sisters understand the importance, especially those elderly who have received money [like welfare and social security] since they came to the US,” she said.

The United Cambodian Community has been operating since 1977, when it was formed to help Cambodians adjust to life in the US.

The US Census Bureau says 72 percent of households participated in the 2010 census, but census-takers are now going door-to-door to retrieve responses from households.

Sara Pol-Lim said now is the time to return forms to the census-takers if they have not been sent in already. She also said the census-takers are not to be feared, as they will not ask for confidential information. People should remember to have an ID ready, she said.

Southeast asians prepare for [US] census count

Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Providence Journal (Rhodes Island)

The Southeast Asian Complete Count Committee held a kickoff event Saturday at the Socio-Economic Development Center for Southeast Asians, at 270 Elmwood Ave. in Providence. The pre-Census 2010 event featured a Cambodian blessing and Hmong dancing. The Cambodian performers in the Blessing Dance are, from left, Marina Men, 16, Likhet Or, 10 and Kanika Men, 9.

Long Beach Cambodians want to be counted

Sara Pol-Lim discusses a the census count during the Cambodian Complete Count committee s regular meeting in Long Beach on Tuesday. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)
Ron Sok puts pins a map showing where certain demographics are in a hard to count area during the Cambodian Complete Count committee s meeting on Tuesday. (Jeff Gritchen / Staff Photographer)

09/30/2009
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

LONG BEACH - On the day the U.S. Census released poverty numbers showing 21 percent of Asians in Long Beach lived at or below the poverty line, the Cambodian Complete Count Committee met determined to do something about it.

The bleak numbers underscored the importance of making sure the community is adequately represented.

Cambodians have typically been what's called an "underserved" community, in part because they, like many impoverished and ethnic communities, prefer anonymity.

Finding such invisible populations is a challenge, particularly in efforts such as the dicennial census, which ramps up in January.

This is important because the federal government distributes hundreds of billions of dollars each year to states and communities based on census numbers. Simply stated, the more people, the more money. The more money, the better the funding for programs, including those in so-called "underserved" communities.

Census monitoring and outreach groups estimate each uncounted person can cost a state between $1,000 to $2,000 per year in federal funds.

"We have been undercounted for the last three decades," says Sara Pol-Lim, executive director of the United Cambodian Community, talking about Cambodian refugees who began flooding into Long Beach in 1979 in the wake of the genocide in her home country.

The 2000 U.S. Census placed the Long Beach Cambodian population at about 17,000, second among Asians to Filipinos. Pol-Lim says that figure is grossly low.

Informal estimates from local groups put the number closer to 50,000, although many say that is high.

Wherever the truth lies, it's worth 10s of millions of dollars to the community annually.

In the 2000 Census, Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimated more than 500,000 people

in California were uncounted, including more than 175,000 in Los Angeles county.
Pol-Lim and the seven other members of the committee who met Tuesday want to change that.

"It's about challenging our community (to respond to the survey)," she said. "I've said before, it's our community to lose, or to gain."

In past counts, Cambodians were notorious for not responding due to difficulties with language and heightened fear of government and authority.

The key to Pol-Lim is finding a message that resonates within the community.

"If you trigger the right message," she said, "they're going to come up." That message would include family and respect.

As part of its outreach, the count committee is considering slogans such at "Stand up and be counted," "Respect yourself, be counted," "Count me in" and "Yes, we can in 2010."

The group also wants to be sure the messages translate well into Khmer.

Chan Hopson, of the Khmer Parents Association, wanted to make sure that youth were consulted and that the message reach them as well.

The group also began work on an asset allocation map, that looks at community services in Long Beach and where they are located, particularly within areas the census says were grossly undercounted.

"We need to look at who we're missing on the map," said Lian Cheun, program director of Khmer Girls in Action and the committee chair. "The next step will be to identify an action plan."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1291

[Long Beach] Mayor stresses importance of census

08/10/2009
Long Beach Press Telegram (California, USA)

Long Beach. Mayor Bob Foster and leaders in the Cambodian community will be gathering Wednesday to tell local residents about the importance of standing up and being counted.

The Cambodian Complete Count Committee and the mayor will meet at 11a.m. at Mark Twain Library, 1401 E. Anaheim St., to explain the importance of every resident in the city being count for the 2010 U.S. Census.

Several communities, including Cambodians, have historically been undercounted in the Census. Because government money for programs that help Cambodians are often based in part on the number of residents, city officials want residents to make sure they respond.