On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization and within 48 hours, the County of San Diego responded by activating its Emergency Operations Center (EOC). One of the responsibilities of the EOC is to ensure that timely and accurate information about the emergency is delivered to residents and other stakeholders in the region. With 3.3 million people living in San Diego County, in both rural and urban centers, working in various business sectors, speaking different languages, and coming from different cultural backgrounds, it was important to ensure a targeted and robust approach to this communications effort. To do this, an Education and Outreach Branch of the EOC was developed and built upon the existing structure of the Live Well San Diego vision.

The collective impact strategy of the Live Well San Diego vision has always been based on the premise that no one entity, including the County of San Diego, can address public issues alone. Instead, it relies on the contributions of the 500 officially recognized partners and other community stakeholders working across sectors to drive change in the region.

The four Live Well San Diego partner “sectors” – Cities & Government, Business & Media, Community & Faith-based Organizations, Schools & Education – were convened initially, and then quickly expanded to additional sectors and sub-sectors for vulnerable populations to meet the COVID-19-related needs of community stakeholders. Through this sector structure, thousands of stakeholders are given focused COVID-19 information each week, including information about current COVID-19 statistics, testing, physical and mental health, sector-specific resources, closing and re-opening guidance and regulations, and more.

The Live Well San Diego vision’s successful model of community engagement allowed for the rapid dissemination of information and updates about the COVID-19 pandemic in San Diego County while also ensuring the public had a venue for asking questions and getting clarification on what turned out to be a very complex and ever-changing emergency response. As a part of this response, new stakeholders from every sector developed a connection to the County of San Diego and the Live Well San Diego vision.