Mosholu Montefiore Community Center (MMCC) is among the 150 groups slated to receive a financial boost in its quest to ensure everyone is counted in the U.S. Census, which is slated to touch off in March under new methods of getting counted amid the political climate that’s been hostile to undocumented immigrant communities such as Norwood.

Lenora Sealey, MMCC’s director of support services, is mapping out what the organization will do with the $150,000 boost it received from New York City as part of a coordinated effort in ensuring New Yorkers are counted. So far, the monies will be earmarked for hiring upwards of ten census outreach workers. The plan, according to Sealey, is to get everyone counted.

“We’re gonna tie it to all of our support services, so anybody that’s walking in the door is asked to complete the census,” said Sealey, in a telephone interview with the Norwood News.

Sealey is also planning bi-weekly information sessions on the census, clarifying its importance to residents.

The U.S. Census can be filled out by hand through a form New Yorkers will receive via mail sometime in March. It can also be filled out online for the first time. If none of those methods are used to fill out the questionnaire—which is used by the federal government to determine how much money the city would receive—so-called enumerators visit homes in a last-ditch effort to ensure a resident is counted.

The grants—a total of $40 million in city and state funds—were set aside for community-based groups. Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition was granted $125,000 intended for census-related education and organizing.

Mayor Bill de Blasio mobilized an effort to be ensure New York City residents are counted after President Donald Trump demanded a citizenship question be included in the census, a request that could have kept many immigrant communities from taking part in the census. Trump has since rescinded that request.

For Sealey, the fear of participating in the census is palpable in her experience with MMCC’s clientele. And Trump’s positions—which have stoked fears within the immigrant community—are behind it, she said.

It’s impacted various social services provided by MMCC, including help for residents applying to the federal government Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as the federal food stamp program. The service hasn’t been as utilized to the same frequency as the organization’s food pantry, said Sealey. In the case of the latter, there is no need to apply to take advantage.

“There is a portion of people who will refuse to apply for it because they feel like it will impact their immigration status in some way. So, we do come into people who are afraid of doing any kind of government documentation of any sort,” said Sealey.

She added that even if undocumented immigrants apply for the census, federal law forbids the U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees the census, from sharing personal information with other federal agencies.

The addition of census outreach adds to the litany of offerings provided by MMCC’s social services department, which include ESL classes, help securing housing, and disability insurance.

“We’ll probably make the work, hopefully, seamless,” said Sealey.