A series of statewide hearings are addressing the upcoming U.S. Census

Citymeals-On-Wheels has won a $4.33 million contract with the New York City Department for the Aging. The money will fund nutritional services for the elderly for three more years, according to the City Record. Women in Need will run a homeless shelter, located at 346 Powers Avenue in the Bronx, through Dec. 31, 2020 on behalf of the Department of Homeless Services, per a $3.79 million contract extension. The Jamaica YMCA has won a contract with the Administration for Children’s Services to run an Evening Reporting Center that will coordinate services and oversight of juvenile offenders in the Close to Home program.

The New York Civil Liberties Union had an artistic way to reach out to lawmakers over the weekend. The nonprofit featured 10 paintings of the victims of police violence at a booth erected during the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislative Conference outside the state Capitol. The display included a painting of Gwen Carr holding a photo of her son, Eric Garner, a Staten Island man who was killed by an illegal chokehold in 2014. The exhibit is part of the NYCLU’s Museum of Broken Windows, a pop-up exhibit of artists’ take on the NYPD’s controversial use of “Broken Windows”-style of policing. The Times Union has all the details.

The New York Immigration Coalition sponsored a Feb. 19 event about contemporary issues. The upcoming census was particularly on the minds of local elected leaders, activists, and other advocates at the 2019 City Legislative Breakfast, held in Manhattan. Check out this Twitter moment to see who was there and what they discussed:

⚡️ “New York Immigration Coalition 2019 City Legislative Breakfast”https://t.co/ZkK4bLbkVW

— NYN Media (@NYN_media) February 19, 2019

Nonprofit foundations are calling on Gov. Cuomo to do more to prepare the state for the 2020 Census. More than 30 of them have signed on to a letter imploring the governor to step up his outreach, including the Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the New York Foundation. Cuomo has faced criticism in recent weeks for a lack of effort on the census, and advocates say that his proposed state budget does not earmark enough money for such efforts. A state census commission announced a series of upcoming hearings to be held across the state on the issue in March.

• March 4 at 2 p.m. in the Rochester City Council Chambers

• March 11 at 6 p.m. at Hostos Community College 

• March 20 at 7 p.m. at SUNY Sullivan

• April 12 at 3 p.m. at the Suffolk County Legislature – William J. Lindsay County Complex

• April 26, at 10 a.m. at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica

• May 6 at 6 p.m. at the Rockefeller Institute of Government 

“With the number of obstacles the federal government has put in the way,” Maria Mottola, executive director of the New York Foundation, said in a press release, “the state must take the lead in providing resources to support trusted community-based organizations that can get the word out about the importance of every New Yorker being counted. We cannot stand by and let the 2020 Census fail.”