Currently, there are two major issues facing all Michiganders: Coronavirus and the 2020 census.

Protecting our families and communities is top-of-mind for all Michiganders as we face the coronavirus together, and we as Michiganders are doing our best to help prevent the spread and to keep each other safe. It’s how we are helping each other now.

The 2020 census is how we are helping each other for the future.

Make sure you are counted in the 2020 U.S. census by completing the survey for everyone who lives in your home — from newborns to centenarians.

If we as a community and region want to benefit from federal funding that supports our hospitals and rural health care access, then we all need to be counted. If we want to ensure our senior populations have the food, care, and housing they need, then we all need to be counted. If we want our children to have the safe, healthy, and top-notch schools they deserve, then we all need to be counted. If we don’t want our population left in an internet desert, then we all need to be counted.

Along with current issues, an ever-present concern for all Michiganders is access to preventative health care services, such as routine physicals, well-baby visits, regular maternity visits, immunizations, dental check-ups, vision exams, and health screenings to help families continue to stay healthy. Preventative care also allows doctors and medical staff to catch illnesses in the early stages, when they are typically easier to treat. For illnesses and injuries that are complex and require an emergency room visit, Michigan’s federally funded medical care programs level the playing field for low-income families by helping them heal without breaking their already stretched budgets.

As Michiganders, we take care of our families and neighbors. One way we can do so is to complete the 2020 census so our families will have access to insurance plans and medical care that provides robust preventative, sick, and emergency care. Low-income families — from infants to senior citizens — deserve access to excellent medical care. Completing the 2020 census will help families protect their health, so they have the strength to take care of each other.

Children are especially hard to count. They may live with grandparents or, if in a shared-custody arrangement, they may move between homes. A primary place of residence may not have been identified, which leaves those children vulnerable to not being counted. If we do not get an accurate count of Michigan’s kids, hundreds will miss out on vital services like K-12 education, nutrition assistance, MIChild, Medicaid, Title I and special education grants, foster care and childcare grants, Section 8 vouchers, and Head Start/Early Start.

Most households across Michigan have received mailed communication from the U.S. Census Bureau by now. Please don’t ignore it. If you already threw it out, mistaking it for junk mail, you can still complete the census online at census.gov or by calling 1-844-330-2020. Phone lines are open every day from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m.

With many of us being homebound right now, why not take 10 minutes to do something that will have a lasting impact on our area?

Be counted.

You WON’T be asked for your bank account, social security number, or your citizenship status. You WILL be asked the name, age, gender and nationality of everyone living in your household. There is much at stake if our region is undercounted. Let’s come together as a community to ensure everyone who lives here has access to basic, vital needs.

When everyone counts, everyone wins.

Patrick Heraghty is executive director of the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan.