Backbone of families
The ability to prepare for anything life throws at you is a luxury for most, as many live life in survival mode or barely have their head above water. After a survey conducted by The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) during their eight-week “Listas” California campaign, the results showed that women under 50 in California who are Hispanic, Black or Asian-American, and Pacific Islander are among the most likely to view themselves as primarily responsible for their family’s emergency preparedness among all age, gender, and ethnic groups, which brings a type of eagerness to them chasing success.
Diana Crofts-Pelayo is the Assistant Director of Crisis Communication and Public Affairs at Cal OES states that Listas is a campaign aimed at helping women prepare for any life crisis that can happen, whether environmental or personal.
“We’re here to help, and this campaign, among many others, helps provide resources and information to navigate life,” she said. Cal OES targets women between the ages of 18-49 and provides them with different workshops to give the necessary teachings and lessons to be the backbone of their families.
Listos California engages a statewide network of community-based organizations, Tribal Governments, and Community Emergency Response Teams across the state to boost resiliency, provide accessible in-language information, and advance a new culture of disaster preparedness.
“We focus on targeting women in that age range because of the responsibilities women young and old could have at that age,” Pelayo said. “My mom was the leader of the family. She was still a child, and they looked for her to understand and navigate life here until everybody was settled in.”
The other initiatives are Indigenous Language Outreach and First Aid Kit For Your Mind. The former initiative is a collaboration with community-based organizations, Listos California provides information about disaster preparedness to immigrant and farmworker communities in their native languages, including video and audio formats for speakers of Indigenous oral languages of Mexico and Central America. The latter initiative helps people to better understand and care for their mental health needs by empowering them with resources to teach what can be done to strengthen ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.
To learn more about these initiatives and become part of the Listos community, you can visit their website at www.ListosCalifornia.org.
