The San Diego Seniors Community Foundation partnered with San Diego Gas & Electric to provide educational workshops on emergency preparedness for 650 older adults throughout the San Diego region.
The SDCF provided 19 workshops through the fall of 2022 that assisted over 650 older adults with guidance and information to help them become prepared. These workshops were provided at senior centers, community centers, and older adult apartment buildings throughout San Diego County, from Fallbrook to Imperial Beach, from Point Loma to Ramona, and points in between.
Each workshop attendee was given the County of San Diego Disaster Planning Guide, a 48-page user-friendly planning document that gives tips and guidelines on becoming effectively prepared. According to the organization, the guidebook gives numerous planning tips on creating effective safety strategies for older adults.
Some of these strategies include creating a network of friends and neighbors for evacuation planning to stay connected with County programs such as the Community Emergency response Teams (CERT), AlertSD, Ready SD, and SDG&E.
SDG&E has the Access and Functional Needs (AFN) program to assist anyone over the age of 60 with supportive services during times of emergency. Support includes providing hotel vouchers, transportation, food support, emergency kit items, and backup power options for those who may have medical equipment that need a consistent source of power.
San Diego residents can connect to the Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) program that can give older adults important information from SDGE if power disruptions impact their community.
