Counting the homeless in the census

TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - The 2010 census is on the way to homes in Tippecanoe County, and an effort is being made to ensure that even those without homes are still counted.

At the Lafayette Urban Ministry around 20 people sleep in the shelter on a regular basis, so they don't have a mailbox to receive the census.  But census workers said they will make every effort to count as many people as possible.

"In 2000, Tippecanoe County had a 72% response rate, our goal for 2010 is an 85% response rate," said Eric VandeVoorde.

In order to reach that response goal Complete Count Committee Member Eric VandeVoorde said census workers will go out into the community to reach the homeless.

"When the census is conducted it's about residences. So wherever that individual lives at the time, whether they're a college student or someone who finds themselves homeless, that's where we want them to be counted," said VandeVoorde.

"They're even going out into the community to try to count the homeless individuals who don't use day shelters or night shelters in the city," said Joyce Fansani.

Lafayette Urban Ministry Shelter Director Joyce Fasani said in Tippecanoe County alone there are 110 homeless adults, and 56 homeless children. She said counting everyone is essential.  Census workers will be visiting all area shelters at the end of the month.

"We need to know how many people are there, so we can get our share of government aid in order to help these individuals obtain housing and different services that they need," said Fasani.

 A better response rate means more money will flow into our community.

"By our estimates we're looking at about $4,000 per person that's counted and that's per year for every 10 years.  Then the government allocates funding for education, business, public services according to the count," said VandeVoorde.

The Census forms were mailed out nation-wide on Monday morning.  VandeVoorde said it takes about 10 minutes to fill out.