SAN BERNARDINO, Calif – At the Mexican consulate in San Bernardino, several people wait for their names to be called. While they wait, a neighborhood non-profit called “El Sol” is using the opportunity to give a presentation on emergency preparedness. 

"Our goal in San Bernardino County is to reach 210,000 of the most vulnerable community members. This includes children, seniors, people with disabilities, people who are living in long-term care facilities," said Amelia Gasca, El Sol's program manager.

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It's especially important for those who don’t speak English. More than half of San Bernardino County is Hispanic or Latino.

El Sol is a community-based organization that’s been running educational outreach programs since 1991.  

"Whether it’s about children or seniors, English or nutrition, we’re always big on educating our community," Gasca said. 

The group recently received almost $2 million from the state to do community outreach about how to prepare for natural disasters as part of the "Listos California" Campaign. It was the third largest grant among all community-based organizations in the state.

"There’s a lot of people that come in here so we really want to have somebody who’s here all the time," Gasca said, referring to the Mexican consulate.

She also plans to use the money to hire 12 more community health workers who will look to raise awareness throughout the county, including someone who will be at the consulate daily. It’s a bottom up approach across the state that Governor Newsom hopes will help those who are often left to fend for themselves.

Statewide, California’s Office of Emergency Services gave $20 million to community organizations in 24 counties, about 40 percent of the state. The other $30 million came from the California Volunteers Agency to expand disaster relief teams as well as other resources like AmeriCorps and Fire Councils.

"A lot of people that don’t have social security [numbers], don’t want to reach the Red Cross or any of those big agencies because they’re afraid they’re going to be turned into ICE," said Missouri Martinez, who is one of the workers on the team.

In many cases, the group says there isn’t just a language barrier. There’s also a cultural one. In Mexico, where building construction isn’t as reliable, emergency responders recommend running outside during an earthquake. 

"Drop, and cover, and hold. That’s what you do and not just run outside, so I think it’s been a learning experience," said Alexa Valero, who also works with El Sol.

"There was a lot of Pacific Islanders that were unaware of the fires of the shelters up north, and so they were going to the beaches or they were going to areas where they felt they were going to be safe," Martinez said.

She was handing out a basic checklist of items to put in an emergency backpack as well as a plastic bag to secure important documents such as passports and birth certificates.

"I’m always thinking water, batteries, candles, and all that but this helped a lot," said Wendy Paredes from La Quinta.

The team also takes note of demographic information, so they can keep track of who they’re reaching. They encourage people to join their local Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).

"In case of an emergency, if there’s one firefighter for every 30,000 community members, we can’t rely on that one firefighter. We do have to rely on our neighbors," Gasca said.

It all amounts to a grassroots campaign aimed at ensuring everyone has access to life-saving information.

El Sol says it reached more than 60 people during the visit to the Mexican consulate, and its workers have already shown up at dozens of community events.  

It plans to partner with other community-based organizations to reach its goal of helping 210,000 people in San Bernardino County by the end of the year.