Houston in Action 2020
Census Campaign Report
The 2020 Census presented historic challenges.
Houston in Action members and partners deepened connections with each other and among their communities, creating a growing infrastructure and momentum that continues our collective commitment to equity, access, and justice for the people of the Houston and Harris County region.
We all know Houston is diverse.
And what that’s meant for working in historically marginalized and undercounted communities has been recognizing that there is no one size fits all approach for our region. Houston in Action and its members and partners are activated in their communities in specialized ways that are responsive to their communities. For the 2020 Census, we mobilized groups at a scale and breadth that had previously not been coordinated.
We learned that there are some universal components to the work that we do and that our collective strength drives this work. These included:
Great relationships
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Great relationships
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Houston in Action is its member organizations and project partners. Relationships and trust were a key ingredient in our overall ability to pull together and coordinate such a wide set of motivated Census advocates for a complete count in the 2020 Census. And the relationships they hold as trusted members of their own communities are central to long-term community-led change and the vision we all share for a Houston region where we are all able to affect the change we want to see for our communities. -
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Great community leadership
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Listening is leadership. The 2020 Census campaign led us to experiment, try new tools, rethink old approaches and double-down on things that work; choices that were made because we listened to our community leaders. Houston in Action strength lies in its network and that network is made up of creative, talented people whose experience and hearts guide them to innovate and persevere to get things done for their communities and the 2020 Census was no exception. -
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Leading with equity
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For the census we knew the effects of an undercount would hit hardest for the folks already bearing the brunt of a system that has historically disenfranchised neighborhoods, people of color, and groups that have been historically marginalized. When we focus on creating outcomes that work against past inequalities, the greater chance we have at building equity for these communities and combatting systemic racism. -
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Reliable and inclusive Data
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Good as in reliable and inclusive. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure data is accurate and truly reflective of where our communities are, but that work is underway. Whether it’s intelligence, how and what we’re tracking to know impact (long-term and short), or strong analysis, it’s all critical to being effective in a place like the greater Houston area. We start with what we have and what we know and fill in the (many) gaps.
Our work, by the numbers
111,312
People reached through organizing and outreach
Over 216
Partner organizations activated
1297
Events hosted by Houston in Action and Partner Organizations
14,000
Doors knocked from in-person canvassing
12,140
Total pieces of collateral distributed
505,463
Phone calls made
885,287
Sent text messages
60,796
Conversations from phone calls
53,818
Conversations from text messaging
3,155
Calls into the Census information hotline
2500
Masks distributed in 62 apartment complexes