Founder Dr. Ira Diamond says he borrowed the form for naming Culver City’s new emergency preparedness Water First program from the well- known Housing First policy.
“I was looking for a catchy name,” he said. “In Housing First, they give people permanent housing. First, they house somebody, then they support them with all of the other services.”
It is important, said Dr. Diamond, DPM, “initially to get people off the street.”
(Parenthetically, he is one of the community’s best known, long-running advocates for pragmatically aiding the homeless.)
In patterning Water First after Housing First, Dr. Diamond “our idea is to make sure people are prepared with water, and then everything else fills in.
“Many organizations can give you ideas for what to put into a disaster kit. In Culver City, we can start with Christine Parra,” the Fire Dept.’s emergency preparedness coordinator.
Dr. Diamond and Ms. Parra (Christine.parra@culvercity.org) have worked together for years on the subject of disaster preparedness.”
Earlier this spring, they invited the community to obtain 55-gallon water barrels, and 90 persons bought in.
A second offering is planned for later this year, around September.
(To be continued)
