Community-based participatory research to develop emergency preparedness capacity for low income mainly monolingual Spanish speaking Latino communities

California is known for its natural disasters, and in the Mira Loma/Glen Avon communities in Riverside there is the additional risk of man-made disasters, including chemical spills, overturned freight trains, and diesel truck collisions. The residents of these communities are primarily low income, mono or bi-lingual Spanish speaking Hispanics leaving them at a great disadvantage for emergency preparedness. To understand the target community's needs, assets and vulnerabilities around emergency preparedness we conducted a targeted needs and asses assessment. Graduate students conducted ethnographies/targeted observations, 10 key-informant interviews, followed by a validation focus group (n=9) some in English, some in Spanish. Data was recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded using a codebook derived from inductive line-by-line coding. Themed analyses resulted in 5 main themes. Findings included high levels of perceived community vulnerability to man-made hazards in the area, but feeling unprepared to respond. Local CBOs were seen as lacking resources and training needed to help equip the community to respond to a disaster. However, residents felt that if these CBO's were given resources and training they are connected and trusted to implement programs that the residents would attend. A lack of trust in state or city officials and time and money as barriers were identified, as were strategies to get community prepared such as involving trusted CBOs. Continuing to work with these highly motivated and dedicated community members may create new opportunities for dialogue and activities to help overcome barriers to emergency preparedness.