Prepare for disasters together: get to know neighbors, form a group, and make crisis plans. Sign up for neighborhood organizing classes May 6 and June 10.
Learn how to organize neighbors into a disaster preparedness group through a two-class series.
Being familiar with the people who live closest to you—and making simple disaster plans together—helps you and your neighborhood respond and recover more quickly from emergencies.
The two-class, in-person series will help you:
- Find ways to get to know your neighbors in easy, low-pressure settings
- Learn six critical steps to organize your own neighborhood disaster preparedness group
- Share your skills, gather supplies, and get the support you need from people nearby so you are ready for emergencies together
These classes, created by the Berkeley Fire Department’s Office of Emergency services, are offered May 7 and June 10. Register via Eventbrite.
Sign up for two classes to organize your neighborhood group
Start or join an existing neighborhood disaster preparedness group to increase your own household readiness and connect with your neighbors.
Sign up online to attend the classes below in person at the Fire Department’s Training Division, 997 Cedar Street.
- Starting a Neighborhood group: Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm. The first training will offer strategies to meet neighbors, set up ways to stay in touch, and organize your shared skills. The goal is for you to be able help support and share resources in emergencies.
- Growing your Neighborhood group: Wednesday, June 10, 2026, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm. The second training will teach you how to increase neighborhood participation, sustain the group with rotating leadership opportunities for members, and help the group build skills such as fire safety and deciding on evacuation locations.
Neighborhood organizing is one step in emergencies
The 2-class series can be just a start. Keep building your skills. Doing so as a neighborhood will also strengthen your group’s preparedness.
See our current list of all disaster preparedness trainings and learn when they are updated by signing up for the Berkeley Ready newsletter.
You can also take simple steps on your own or, even better, as a group. They include:
- Building a disaster kit to stay or go in an emergency.
- Signing up for emergency alerts via text, email and calls. Getting trusted, timely information is your first step in an emergency.
A key part of your emergency preparedness can begin with learning how to start and develop a neighborhood disaster preparedness group. Register for May 6 and June 10.
Links
- Berkeley Ready disaster classes (Eventbrite)
- Berkeley Ready newsletter (City of Berkeley)
- Sign up for alerts (AC Alert)
- Build your emergency disaster supply kit
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