Stockton opens cooling centers during high temperatures
STOCKTON - The triple-digit heat has been beating down on San Joaquin County this week.
Mary Johnson has lived through many heatwaves in Stockton, but this time around, she'll have to do so without an air conditioner.
"If you stay out in it a long time, it'll get you. I've got water. I can wet myself," she said laughing. "Just got to deal with it."
To beat the heat, she visited a cooling zone at the Van Buskirk Community Center.
"Maybe you don't have air conditioning, or maybe you can't afford to run your air conditioning," said Connie Cochran, the community relations officer for the City of Stockton. "And you just need somewhere to go and [be] in the shade."
Stockton is one of the most diverse cities in the country, and with so many ethnicities and languages, city officials lean into technology to try and spread information about cooling centers and heat waves, using translation software or chatbots in a user's select language.
"There's actually a translate button on the top right corner of the website when you're there," Cochran said. "There are 100 languages that you can choose from."
The city does what it can to let people know about these cooling centers and zones, especially those who really need them. However, when CBS13 showed up to these cooling centers and zones during triple-digit heat on Wednesday, they were empty. No one had signed in for the day by 1 p.m.
"Language is key when people here—trusted messengers—tell people where to go, the trusted places," said Dr. Ines Ruiz-Houston, the vice president of the nonprofit El Concilio's Civic Engagement Division.
Dr. Inez-Houston and her team go out to areas where English may not be the primary language and bridge the gap between the resources and those who need them.
"We know our families don't want to go to community centers because they don't know them or don't know if they are going to ask for information," she said.
Dr. Ruiz-Houston said that when non-English speakers trust organizations like El Concilio, it can help push more messages to those who normally wouldn't know about city resources.
Still, there is also a digital divide. Vicki Robinson lives in her van near Fremont Park. She had no idea the city had cooling centers.
"Where they at?" she asked.
Cooling centers are located at:
- Arnold Rue Community Center – 5758 Lorraine Ave.
- Stribley Community Center – 1760 E. Sonora St.
- Van Buskirk Community Center – 734 Houston Ave.
- Seifert Community Center – 128 W. Benjamin Holt Dr.
The cooling centers will be open Thursday. You can find information on hours here.