 Hi, Marcia Joyner. Are you counted time? You must be counted because we are now in to the census time that happens every ten years and we count everybody and today our guests will tell you why you need to be counted. So, let's start right here with Lionel, now tell me your title. I'm the president of Papakalaya Community. Great, and that is, as you all have been watching, one of the first home, Papakalaya, one of the first homesteads in Honolulu or the state, which is it? Honolulu. Honolulu. Elisapeta. Elisapeta. Elisapeta. Elisapeta. Beautiful name and I'm going to screw it up. And she is a partnership specialist with the 2020 Census. And your area is? My area is with the focus is on the native Hawaiian Pacific Islander count. And I also deal with the general population count. Now, the reason that we're going to do this just a little bit different, and I told everybody, there are some areas of Hawaiians that decided they don't want to be counted, which is why we invited Lionel. Lionel says he wants to be counted. But he represents a neighbor or an area that says, well, maybe we don't want to be counted. So I wanted you to tell us as well as Lionel so he can take it back. Why? A, they need to be counted. What are the benefits from being counted? And what do they lose if they're not counted? How's that? Okay. So tell us what you do. Elisa Peta Alay-Maliata. I'm a partnership specialist for the US Census Bureau. My focus is the native Hawaiian Pacific Islander. And I'm Sam One. And I've been here since 1990. I'm here in the state of Hawaii. And, you know, the US Census Bureau is the most premier statistical agency in the whole world. There is a historical background of the US Census in our nation. 1790 to be exact. The first census was done in 1790. So we can see how far the journey was for a lot of our forefathers and people and our leaders in government have helped in setting this operation. So the census 2020 is coming up. And what does it involve? Why do we do it? It's part of our constitution. Article one section, section one of article in the constitution states that the census has to be done every 10 years. And why do we do it? It involves, you know, the population count determines the apportionment and also redistricting. Also, the population count determines the federal funding that comes in. And we are talking about 675 plus billion federal dollars that comes into every 50 states as well as, you know, the US territories. So when we're talking about funding, we know it's very important. And it's the resource that we need in our community. A lot of our benefits and things that we use in our daily life is dependent upon a lot of these, you know, federal funding from the government. And it's money that comes in every year. So we want our state of Hawaii to have a complete and accurate count in order to receive a big piece of that pie. And another important element, I mean, part of being counted is, it's our civic duty. It's part of our constitution and it's very important for all of us. Okay, now, since this is almost Christmas, I got to tell you my Christmas story. Everybody knows the story of the baby Jesus being born in Bethlehem. But do we know why he was born in Bethlehem? Because it was a census that they said all people in the House of David had to go back to where they originated. So they had to make that journey to Bethlehem because Joseph was from the House of David. So without a census, we wouldn't have a Christmas story. I've never heard that before. Well, so there. Now, tell us about Papakalea. And what is the issue about the census in Papakalea? I think as far as the issue when it comes to the census, it's not just Papakalea or our community. I think it's the state as a whole. I know with a lot of Hawaiians and I speak for my community. Census 2010, I was a part of some of that and helping out. And I had seen that people in my community, they were nervous. They didn't want to give up information. I think that back then and even now, people are not sure about where that information goes or how it's going to be used. And I think people, they don't want to really give all out of information because they think there's going to be some type of retribution from it. And from what I understand, it's far from that. So for me, my understanding of the census is that we need to get an accurate count of what situations are happening so that we can get federal funding to fix that. So if we don't count all of the homelessness or if we don't count all of these people or these other people or we get an inaccurate count, then the funding that comes from the federal government to create programs to help these people will not be enough to cover. Well, there are special programs for Native Hawaiians with the big N and with the little N. Yeah, that's a strange one. But anyway, there are programs. So how do you convince your community that they must participate? Because we hear all the grumblings about Papakalaya not wanting to participate. So what between the two of you, how are we going to sell that? How are we going to get them to feel comfortable with this? All right, so I'll go first. So I can speak for my community and myself. I think part of the journey with anybody, regardless of what homestead you're from, Hawaiian or not, it's about education. So I think the more people get educated on the process, how it works and why we do it, I think that will help a lot of people. One, two is that from 2010 to now, 2020, there's a lot that has changed socially here in Hawaii. So I think now these people kind of understand that there is more need for more social services. There are a lot of people, like I mentioned earlier, homelessness and other things, that there is more money needed for these programs to help these people. And the only way that we can really help is to get an accurate count. And I really believe that between now and then, we've come a long way. And I think we just need to do more shows like this to get the education out so people can hear and people can think about it. Of course, with their friends and family, because we always do that, right? You know, to get, you know, the information correct between ourselves. And the next thing is to actually be active. And I think, you know, I think we're on a great start. Just more programs like this would definitely help. Well, Nat, would you explain in detail what the questions are on the form so people aren't afraid of giving out this information? And where does it go? That's a good question. Yes. You know, having that trust with the community is very important in this operation. And the data that we receive or gathered from, you know, the questionnaire in the census 2024 is used only for statistical purposes. You know, when we think about data, I'm someone. And I'm sure a lot of our someone community can also relate to what, you know, what president of public layer community is also saying. In the Census Bureau, all the responses or the data that is gathered is protected under the law. It's protected under Title 13. And any violation for all of us that are working in the Census Bureau, any violation of that law, you know, is subject to a fine as well as imprisonment. So we are very careful. We are well trained in the Census Bureau to ensure that that information is protected. And even under Title 13, the information that we gather, the data that we gather cannot be shared with any agency. So even if it's immigration or even if another government agency who wants to have access to the data cannot be released, cannot be disclosed. So why do we need to gather this information? You know, filling out the questionnaire, the Census 2020 questionnaire only takes about nine minutes. And the first part of the Census questionnaire, ask about your name. Census never asks you about your social security number or your income, your name, your ethnic background, and who lives in your household. So, you know, the information will help us help our government leaders and anyone that uses the Census data, you know, support the program. So the federal programs that is being used in the community. So, for example, if we have to plan building a hospital in our community, you know, everyone that developed this hospital, they need to use Census data to identify certain areas in the community that is safe and also appropriate and necessary for the community. So even building roads, a lot of the Census data is used to determine that when it comes to federal funding for grant writers, people that are asking the federal government for funding to fund an after-school program or programs in, you know, in community agencies like Papakulea, they have to look at the Census data as well. So the information that we gather is very important and that's why we are asking for everyone to be comfortable. Well, now, we need to take a break and when we come back, we will talk some more about what happens to all of this data once you get it, okay? We're going to take a break and we'll be back in 60 seconds. Hi, I am Yukari Kunisue, host of Konnichiwa Hawaii Think Tech Hawaii's Japanese program, broadcasting every Monday from 2 p.m. I usually invite a guest in Japanese language community who does interesting things and I'd like to share stories with you guys. Please tune in and listen to Konnichiwa Hawaii. Hey, hello, everyone and welcome to the Think Tech Hawaii studio. My name is Andrew Lanning. I'm the host of the Think Tech Hawaii studio. We air here every Tuesday at 10 a.m. Hawaii time trying to bring you issues about security that you may not know, issues that can protect your family, protect yourself, protect our community, protect our companies, the folks we work with. Please join us and I hope you can maybe get a little different perspective on how to live a little safer. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Marcia and we're back. And now it is about Census 2020. And I want you to remember, are you counted? You must be counted. I have a very personal thing about this. Everybody must be counted. Everybody in the state of Hawaii, because we have enough population for a third congressional seat. Right now, there are three House members. We have every state has two Senators, but the numbers of representatives in the House of Representatives is based on population. We still have the same people we had when we became a state. So I want every one of you to fill in the form so we can have a third congressional seat. Okay. Now back to our guests. And we are talking to, I'm going to screw up your name, Elizabeth. Elizabeth has a nice name and Lionel. And so tell us now, all of this we gather. However, if we go online and look at the census of 1940, we see the person's name, how many people in the household, and that's it, right? That's all that's printed online. We don't get to see all the other data. Do we get an address? Yes. Yes. Okay. So that if you were living in Papakaleo in 1940, it would show your name, how many people, if you're head of the household, how many people are in that house at that date? Is that correct? Well, the information that, you know, the census gathers is very important, as we say that. But I'm saying that when it becomes public, all of that other data is not there. Yes. Yes. That's where I'm going with that. Yes, your name, your address, and how many people are in the household. The population count, when we talk about the information that is gathered from the community, that information is protected, like I said, under Title 13. So, you know, even with working with the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, since that's my focus, a lot of our community members are interested in the genealogy. And, you know, the process of the genealogy too, it uses the census data. Yes. So, when we think about the history of the census operation, the first census in the United States was 1790. That's a really long time. Yes. And all of that, you know, information is protected. So, you know, the population count of our people, even for myself as someone, I want to ensure that our someone community is counted. And they have to be accurately counted so that they can also receive the support. And the numbers is justification. It also provides, you know, a figure so that we can tell our leaders we exist. Yes. This is the justification of the number of people that lives in this community. So, when we're in front of our leaders, you can, you know, the community members or leaders can utilize that information. So, it's very important. So, like the goal of the U.S. Census Bureau is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place. Yes. So, we want to ensure that it's done. Now, suppose, and as you know, almost all of the Hawaiian community of today is Hawaiian Plus, Hawaiian Chinese, Hawaiian this, Hawaiian that. So, in filling out the form, do you put Hawaiian, check this, and Chinese, check that. How many of those can you say? Because everybody I know, including me, mixed with everything. So, how do you do that? Well, in the census form, there's a lot of change, new change right now, which is wonderful. And before the Pacific Island community was lumped together with the Asia Pacific. So, at this time, you know, with, you know, the process of going through the OMB, anything that we change or propose to be included in the census takes years to be, you know, passed. It has to go through the Supreme Court as well. So, you know, fortunately enough, 2020, we have the demographics, you know, identification of the community in the more specific part in the questionnaire. So, there will be a Native Hawaiian, you know, category, as well as, you know, the ethnicity of identifying yourself as someone and so forth. You know, Tongan, Chinese. So, the ethnicity is quite clear there. And more so, you will also have a block where you can write in because of multiracial people can be someone Hawaiian. So, you can choose more than one box. Yes. Yes, and that data is very important. It is. Yes. Because it seems totally unfair to the individual who has a part, a mother is one thing and their father is something else. And you're going to have to choose one of those. It seems totally unfair to the person filling it out. So, I'm glad to know that you can choose all of the above, you know. Yes. Because everybody on this island is mixed with something. I got to say, I'm happy to hear that as well as a Native Hawaiian because for years we've come together as Pacific Islanders. Pacific Islanders. Yes. Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, so on and so forth. Anybody in the Pacific region, the fact that we have our own identity, I love it. I think that it can help the federal government even help our community. Exactly. And you know, with our Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander community, we are really strong when it comes to educating our children. We're educating our children with our Native language and even the culture. So, with this information that we're gathering when we request for assistance through grants and proposals, we have this information which is done by the U.S. Yes. And I think in writing originally that these people in D.C. that make the forms never dream the thousands of islands in the Pacific. Yes. It's like unbelievable how many, the Marshall Islands, the Thousand Islands, Micronesia, who knows, you know. And they all speak a different language and they all live here. And so it's finally good that instead of lumping this Pacific Islander, that probably in D.C. you don't even know where the Pacific is. You know, I guess it's over there someplace, you know, off the coast of California someplace, you know. So I am so glad to see that all of that is delineated. So that gives you more sense to go ahead and fill it out when you understand what it can mean. Now, did we lose people the last time by not getting everybody counted? Well, in 2010, we know we have a lot of hard to count populations in hard to count areas here in our state of Hawaii. And we've been working diligently with government leaders, with Dr. Eugene Tien, who oversees our, you know, the census operation with D.Vet. And he was selected by the Governor Ike. So actually what I was going to mention that we are working with our community recently, we were in Maui for the Native Hawaiian Civic Club Association's conference. And we presented to the community a lot of the civic clubs from the mainland. And even the ones on Oahu, it's more than 26 clubs. So, you know, developing the complete count communities, who knows our community better than us? Yes. Yes. And that is what we're asking for their help and support through developing partnership that will help the U.S. Census Bureau during the operation next year. And, you know, hiring, we have a lot of jobs, employment that is available so our community can apply and be part of history, be part of this, you know, operation. Eric, can you see this? No, it's not. Can you see that? And you can apply online at Census 2020. And you can apply online and guarantee that Papakaleo can be counted. So we want you all to do this. Again, because if we don't get this census right, it will be 20 years before we can get another seat in Congress. 20 years. So we need to do it now. Today. So every community can have somebody that works for the census to have people from your community that people have faith that they won't be screwed, that they will get the right answer. So it is important that everybody from every community apply for the job. And it pays, what, $18 an hour or something like that? Yes. Yes. It pays better than the state. It pays better than the government or McDonald's or whatever, you know. Yes. So you must do this because we need that count. Again, we need another seat in Congress and it will be 20 years before we get this opportunity again. I'd also like to add to the employment opportunities. The Census Bureau is also providing opportunities for non-citizens to apply for jobs when we need help with language assistance. Yes, especially. Yes, we do need help with people that speaks another language other than English. And we are working, you know, closely with our Papakolea, our partners like Papakolea Community Association, as well as other community agencies with the Micronesian community. We are Oshena. We also work closely with the Consulate of Marshallese, as well as the Japanese community. And even with Samoan, we are working to establish a community with our faith-based organizations. And we know what the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders, a lot of our community members, they congregate in churches. They do, they do. We are asking church leaders, we are asking them for help and support so that we can all support our community members that are coming to church. So, again, at the church, they can recruit people to work. Yes, exactly. Because those in your neighborhood that you know have more faith in you filling out the form than they do somebody else. Yes. And I've said it before, even in Chinatown here in Hawaii, Honolulu, there's seven different Asian languages. So just to say you speak Chinese doesn't mean a thing, you know. So we do need people that speak the language, even if it's pigeon. Yes. But we do need you. We do need this. Again, I'm back. We have to have everybody counted. We can't lose any money, and everybody can work, right? Yes. Regardless, you don't have to be a citizen. Yes. Yes. Some people are scared. They come from countries, especially Asian countries, where they don't, they're scared to talk to the government. So we need people that speak their language that can make them comfortable. So anybody, you just go to 2020census or census 2020, which is it? 2020census.gov slash jobs. 2020census.gov slash jobs. Okay. All right. Now, one last thing. On closing. All right. Tell us what you're going to do with Papa Kauai. Well, yeah. So I've been talked to already. I did this for a census 2010 as well. And, you know, for us in the community, we did a bunch of different event community events, and we tried to get community involved. This year or 2020, we'll probably be the same thing as well. Like I said, you know, with more, you know, shows like this where we can talk to people from the census and then just have more conversation. I think it would make people feel more easy about giving up information on this one. And it helps people. So it helps us. I need to close, but one last thing. Can you bring everybody together? Can they all fill out the form in a, at the same time? Absolutely. Some of the complete count comedies are planning out their calendar, their census activities and events for the whole time during the census timeframe. So some of our CCCs like the NWACP, they plan to have everyone congregate or all their members to come together with their families. And do it all together. That's a great idea. And that's those concepts, those strategies are very effective. And you know, CCCs are any organization that is willing to help support the operation can, you know, come up with great ideas to engage our community and to mobilize them to understand the purpose of why we do what we do. Thank you so much. It's always a pleasure having you. Thanks for having us. And remember, you must be counted. So are you counted? Aloha. And we'll see you next time.