Programs > Core Services

Emergency Preparedness

Center for Independent Living’s Emergency Preparedness Program supports individual and community resilience and readiness planning to prepare for disaster recovery and Public Safety Power Shutoff events, and ensures people with disabilities and older adults are integrated in state- and county-wide planning, response, and recovery processes for disasters.

Our peer-led program offers emergency readiness, response, and recovery by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities, and our services focus on areas often left out of traditional emergency management, like accessibility, assistive technology and mobility devices, crip hacks during disasters, and other critical community resources for disabled people and older adults.

What is a disaster?

A disaster is a condition that presents a particular risk to normal operations, or to the health and safety of communities, such as a wildfire, earthquake, heatwave, or severe weather such as rain, lightning or flooding, or power shut offs. Disasters can be a natural part of ecosystems, but we have experienced growing and deepening disasters fueled by the current climate crisis.

What does CIL assist with?

The Center for Independent Living, Inc. (CIL) is part of the Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program through our affiliation with the California Foundation of Independent Living Centers (CFILC). CIL is also a Listos California (Listos meaning “ready”) Partner through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES).

Funders

As a DDARC and a Listos partner, our Emergency Preparedness program offers a range of services, including:

Individualized emergency preparedness planning
Starter emergency kits and information about building go-bags, stay-bags, and more
Enrollment in critical programs such as PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program and AC Alert
Portable batteries for individuals who require power for life-saving medical equipment during power shutoffs, and who also live in high wildfire risk areas or areas affected by Public Safety Power Shut-offs.
Disability-led community disaster preparedness and response education and training
A Peer Ambassador Program where disabled community members are resourced and compensated to bring emergency preparedness education to their communities.

As a DDARC and a Listos partner, our Emergency Preparedness program offers a range of services, including:

Individualized emergency preparedness planning
Starter emergency kits and information about building go-bags, stay-bags, and more
Enrollment in critical programs such as PG&E’s Medical Baseline Program and AC Alert
Portable batteries for individuals who require power for life-saving medical equipment during power shutoffs, and who also live in high wildfire risk areas or areas affected by Public Safety Power Shut-offs.
Disability-led community disaster preparedness and response education and training
A Peer Ambassador Program where disabled community members are resourced and compensated to bring emergency preparedness education to their communities.

Research and Outcomes in Alameda County

Disability-Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Community Perspectives

The Center for Independent Living (CIL) and the World Institute on Disability (WID) are thrilled to announce the launch of our report, “Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Community Perspectives: Research and Outcomes in Alameda County” into the world! This report is the outcome of a year-long process to better understand the current state of emergency preparedness and disaster resilience across our county’s diverse disability population, and identify needs, challenges, gaps, and opportunities for our communities, emergency management, and state and local governments. The report was developed through a deeply community-driven process, which began with a series of community listening sessions, evolved into a county-wide survey, and deepened through focus groups. The report includes an introduction and background to disability and disaster response; an analysis of survey results; summaries of 4 key take-aways we found related to emergency preparedness and disabled communities, and finally, recommendations for emergency management, local governments, and community-based organizations in Alameda County.

We hope that the data, summaries, and most importantly, stories we have gathered in this report will help open new possibilities for people with disabilities to contribute to and lead in the fields of disaster preparedness and resiliency. We also hope that this report, and all that follows it, will impact the way first responders and emergency management staff understand accessibility and center the needs of people with disabilities before, during, and after disasters and emergencies. Please join us in reading and reflecting on this report, and sharing it far and wide with your networks!

Accessibility: Our “Disability Inclusive Emergency Preparedness and Community Perspectives: Research and Outcomes in Alameda County” report is screenreader-accessible, includes image descriptions, high color contrast, and a hyperlegible, 14-point font.

This report is made possible by our partners at Listos California, a project of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. Learn more about Listos California here.

“We have witnessed the power of Nothing About Us, Without Us when it comes to emergency preparedness and resiliency for people with disabilities. If we don’t see it in the world, we want—we need—to build it.”

Emergency
Resources

Listos California Resource Hub

Listos California has free materials in many languages that you can use and share to promote disaster preparedness in your home and community.

If you have any questions please fill out the form.

If you have any issues using this form please call us at 510-841-4776 or email us at info@thecil.org.

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Acknowledgment

Services offered by Center for Independent Living are for residents of Northern Alameda County (AC), including Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont and Albany.