Latino Coalition wins Cal OES Listos grant to expand bilingual disaster preparedness outreach in San Benito County

At the Oct. 14 San Benito County Board of Supervisors meeting, representatives of the Latino Coalition described a new grant from the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services to deliver Listos ("ready") bilingual and culturally tailored disaster-preparedness outreach in San Benito County.

The presentation, by Richard Perez of the Latino Coalition of San Bernardino County, said the Listos initiative trains trusted community leaders to deliver preparedness information in languages and dialects residents use, including Spanish and Indigenous languages. "Listos trains trusted community leaders to share life-saving information through personal networks and not bureaucracy," Perez said.

The coalition told the board the program will focus on residents the presenters described as among the most at risk in emergencies: farm workers, Indigenous families, seniors, people with disabilities and low-income households. The coalition said it will provide bilingual workshops, neighborhood events and school partnerships and will work with local and regional partners including the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Madison Bisher, representing the San Benito County Office of Emergency Services, said the county has an existing collaborative relationship with Listos and would support the coalition's work. "We have a long standing collaborative partnership with Listos," Bisher said. "We'd love to help in any way we can."

Board members praised the outreach approach and urged coordination across county departments. Supervisor Velasquez said it was important to reach residents who do not trust traditional government outreach. Supervisor Sotelo and others offered help and asked staff to ensure county agencies are connected to the effort. A public speaker, Stacy McGrady, offered to donate CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) instructor services to support training in languages beyond English.

Presenters said the coalition will share materials and coordinate exercises with county emergency management and local service organizations and invited supervisors to appear at outreach events to lend public visibility to the work.

The presentation did not include a dollar amount for the grant in the transcript, and no formal board action was recorded on the item. Board members and county emergency staff said they would continue coordinating and produce follow-up recommendations on how county agencies can assist the coalition.