EAST LOS ANGELES – Edeny Casey is working along with 19 other canvassers for We Count LA, a campaign created by the nonprofit California Community Foundation, to help Boyle Heights residents fill out the 2020 census. She’s been doing outreach for campaigns for half a decade, so by now she knows, it’s a numbers game.

“If you get lucky you’ll get a house here or there. So that’s why the more houses we hit, the more opportunities we have to fill the census," said Casey.

Despite COVID-19 fears, she carries on, even though she has a one-month-old baby and elderly parents at home. 

But the pandemic is not the only challenge she's facing. Around 94 percent of the residents in Boyle Heights are Latino and more than half are foreign born. Misinformation about a citizenship question, as well as general fear of immigration authorities means that few answer the door, and those that do are skeptical.

After speaking with a resident in Spanish, Casey talks about the interaction.

“Her husband told her don’t even fill out the census because Trump said undocumented people are not going to be counted,” Casey said.

But she isn’t surprised. She saw the same thing happen in her own home with her undocumented parents.

“Actually, my parents were skeptical of doing it also. They thought, 'Oh, they’re gonna ask the immigration question.' But you know what? When it comes down to the pandemic and all that. . . I was telling them, 'OK so you want to get help but you weren’t counted on the census, so how is that gonna pan out?'”

So far not well for the 34th congressional district, which is almost 20 points behind California’s census self-response rates. The representative for the area, Jimmy Gomez, is concerned. 

“We are behind. I have a lot of worries about the census,” Gomez said.

Since early last year, Gomez has held meetings and roundtables about the census. Outreach was planned for grocery stores, festivals, and events. Now many of those options are off the table. 

“If we don’t have a high enough count . . . we might even lose two congressional seats. That means we have less power, less representation in the U.S. House of Representatives,” said Gomez.

For months he’s met with community members to discuss the significance of this count and how it impacts education, hospitals and transportation. But he says there is no better example than this pandemic.

“In the latest coronavirus package, we got hundreds of millions of dollars based on our population and based on our votes. City of L.A. used $100 million of the CARES Act money, federal money, to do the rent relief program. Less of us, less ability to do that,” Gomez said.

Back on the streets, Casey is now going on her third hour of canvassing. So far, only three households have allowed her to help them fill out their census forms. But perseverance, is the first requirement for this job. 

“I love what I do, because I love interacting with people, educating them a little bit about what we are doing,” said Casey “I believe I can make a difference, let them know it is important and why it is important.”

She’ll be in the field until August 19 when government census workers will come in to finish up the count. She hopes by then she will have been able to close the gap in response rates, helping not just her family, but her community as well.