The Community Emergency Response Volunteers of the Monterey Peninsula (CERV) has awarded nine community-based organizations scattered around Monterey County a total of more than $190,000. These funds will go towards helping to prepare the county’s most vulnerable populations for future disasters and emergencies. The 2020 grants will enable local groups that serve children and adults with disabilities, fragile elderly people who are deaf and hard of hearing, blind people needing transportation to appointments, low-income Hispanic women, at risk youth, children who are ill and homebound, and more. The grants are given to provide in-depth instruction in emergency readiness in ways tailored to meet the specific needs of these diverse populations.
In announcing the grants, CERV project director Harvey Pressman pointed out that “we face a paradoxical situation in which the people most likely to sustain the most negative consequences of emergencies and disasters have the least access to preparation resources.” He added ”The CERV grants, (are just) one more step in CERV’s continuing efforts to right this balance.“
CERV’s initiative is a part of Governor Newsom’s state-wide “LISTOS California” initiative in disaster readiness for the state’s most vulnerable populations. Monterey County, through CERV, is one of the 14 counties in the state to receive this support. 
The agencies who have received 2020 funding from service so far Include
- Central Coast Center for Independent Living
- Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula, Inc.
- Alliance on Aging
- Mujeres en Acion
- Coastal Kids Home Care
- Rancho Cielo, Inc.
- The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center
- Special Kids Connect and
- ITN Monterey County
In 2019, Assembly Bill 72 appropriated $50 million to fund the California For All Emergency Preparedness Campaign to bolster statewide disaster resilience. The California For All Emergency Preparedness Campaign empowers statewide community based organization (CBOs) partners like CERV to provide emergency preparedness education and resources to Monterey County’s vulnerable communities. This determination is described by social vulnerability factors including social isolation, poverty, language barriers, and other access and functional needs challenges and includes the elderly, people with disabilities, and those in disadvantaged communities.
As a “Statewide CBO Partner” with OES, CERV provides California For All Public Outreach and Education Campaign training and resources to susceptible and diverse populations through subgrants supporting local community-based organizations (Local CBOs) serving those targeted populations in Monterey County. These Local CBOs will be expected to leverage the power of peer-to-peer networks to organize their vulnerable and underserved communities and to implement tailored preparedness strategies that reflect the unique needs and challenges of their communities.
