Partner Spotlight

When thinking about natural disasters, Patricia Diaz, Director of Community Engagement for Community Health Partnership, Inc. (also known as “CHP”), takes a multi-pronged approach.  “When we think about disaster, it’s not just the individual. It’s the individual, the community, and the systems. All of those are interrelated and we can’t be successful if we just look at one component.” She is certainly keeping her eye on all three components in CHP’s work with Listos California, the initiative of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to ensure communities can better prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. 

The daughter of Mexican immigrant farmworkers, Patricia grew up in rural Monterey County, and has felt first hand the impacts of floods, fires, and earthquakes on her community. Her work through CHP with Listos California is deeply personal, and she says her commitment to empowering historically marginalized communities keeps her motivated.  

CHP was founded 30 years ago as a consortium of community health centers with the mission of enhancing the services they provide to the area’s most vulnerable residents and communities through collaborative projects and advocacy. Through the Listos California initiative, CHP currently reaches 4,771 residents in Santa Clara County to increase the disaster preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities of Spanish and Vietnamese language speakers. 

To inform their outreach and work, CHP has made a concerted effort to talk with community members to try and better understand their disaster readiness needs. In conversations and focus groups with more than 500 community members, CHP had repeatedly heard people say that it needs to be people who look like them, understand their lives, and use their language who teach them about what they need to do before, during, and after a disaster or emergency. They also talk about the devastating impact of disasters on their most basic needs, and how slow a process it is to recover when they were already struggling before the emergency.  But above all, the community is full of stories of resilience and strength.

Responding to the need for peer to peer outreach and engagement, CHP developed a team of Community Health Workers, recruiting, hiring and training people who understand first-hand the barriers and resiliencies of the individuals in their target communities. Today CHP has a team of five trained Community Health Workers who actively engage with their communities, empowering them with information and resources to build safety and support resilience.  

The Community Health Workers have done door-knocking, tabling, and used other outreach methods, but their most successful engagement is at the Mexican Consulate in San Jose, where the Listos California table joins CHP’s long-time “Ventanilla de Salud” or “Health Window” multiple days per week. During seven recent tabling days they had some 422 engagements, reviewing Disaster Ready Guides, flood safety brochures, and educating community members on what programs could help them meet their basic needs without jeopardizing their immigration status or future immigration process. 

“CADRE (Collaborating Agencies’ Disaster Relief Effort), a Santa Clara County network of disaster response and recovery organizations, developed a brochure that explains what your rights are as an Immigrant when disaster happens, including how disaster assistance will not affect your immigration status, and that it is not a Public Charge issue. When we talk about that, folks tend to want to hear more about it.  People really listen more closely and, if necessary, ask questions. It’s so important that we share this information widely,” said Patricia.  

In the coming months, CHP’s Community Health Worker team is looking forward to doing presentations on a variety of topics including floods, earthquakes, extreme heat, and wildfires, which will include a hands-on activity on how to build an emergency kit. Everyone attending will put together their own starter kit and receive a list of what to do next to complete it.  

They are also continuing to hold listening sessions and house meetings to further assess what community members have experienced when it comes to disaster and emergency preparedness and recovery needs, perceived gaps, and suggestions for solutions. Plans for a community forum are in the works with key decision-makers including local emergency services officials, community based organizations, community members, and advocates, with the goal of forging ways to work together and strategically integrating community voices to strengthen the area’s programs and serve the most vulnerable communities most effectively.