A grant being offered is aimed at ‘making APIs count’ in Census. The deadline is near
A grant for Census 2020 outreach to Asian Pacific Islander communities is open, but the deadline is approaching fast.
The grant, called the APIs Rise Fund, aims to increase the capacity and impact of Asian Pacific Islander philanthropic giving in the Sacramento region. Grant founders May O. Lee and Elaine Abelaye-Mateo hope to fill the disparities in funding to the growing API population in the area and reflect its needs.
The theme for the funding this year is “making APIs count.” The deadline to apply is Wednesday at 5 p.m.
“It is so important to make sure API communities are counted,” said Christine Tien, co-chair of the APIs Rise Fund. “APIs have traditionally been under-counted, and we want to make sure numbers are strengthened.”
Within this region, Sacramento County ranks the second highest in terms of its 10 percent share of hard-to-count areas, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. It trails Yuba County (21 percent), which is in the top 20 percent of California’s hardest-to-count counties.
Small pockets of hard-to-reach areas locally are concentrated in Sacramento and around Rancho Cordova and Folsom.
Census data is used to distribute $675 billion of federal funding for each state and county for programs that benefit schools, hospitals, public works, agriculture, transit and more. Sacramento County could lose $1,000 per person per year for 10 years in federal funding for each missed person at the census count this year.
Applicants for APIs Rise Funds must be a nonprofit organization or public agency that serves the Asian or Pacific Islander populations. They must also service Sacramento, Placer, Yolo or El Dorado counties.
Contributors to the funds will review the applications and vote on who is awarded grants.
The maximum grant award is $10,000. Winners will be announced Feb. 27.
The API community nationwide organizations received only 0.4 percent of the grant dollars from all national foundations in 2004, while Asian American and Pacific Islanders constituted 4.5 percent of the total U.S. population, according to a 2007 study conducted by the Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy.
This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.