Second of two parts
Re “Some People Shoo Away Homeless, but This Diamond Shoes Them”
“Helping the homeless one step at a time” sounds like a facile, catchy concept thought up by a slick marketing guy.
It was not. And is not.
Instead, it is the literal motto of the unique organization Shoes for the Homeless (www.shoesforthehomeless.net), led by the podiatrist Dr. Ira Diamond, retired school administrator Rosie LaBriola and Christopher Patrick King, a candidate for City Council in last year’s election.
What are the odds that a foot doctor’s attention would be compellingly arrested by normally faceless homeless people. As a group, the homeless probably suffer more serious foot problems than any compartment of the Aerican people.
The remarkably successful intersecting of Dr. Diamond’s podiatry practice and the shoe needs of homeless persons of all ages is one of the remarkable social justice marriages of the era.
As Dr. Diamond explains, he almost stumbled into the notion of providing shoes for the homeless.
By now, his Shoes for the Homeless supplies large numbers of footwear a year – and even has a branch in Chicago.
“We distribute our shoes to more than 20 non-profit organizations that directly serve the homeless,” Dr. Diamond said. The Union Rescue Mission, the Los Angeles Jordan Mission, the Fred Jordan Mission, Hope Gardens, the St. Joseph Center, Venice, OPCC, Midnight Mission, My Friend’s Place, A Place Called Home, Step up on Second are among them.
He was speaking recently about the difference that proper shoes make for the homeless.
“What does a shoe provide?” Dr. Diamond asked, rhetorically.
“It really is interesting when you think about the advantages a shoe offers.
“A shoe provides comfort, protection from the environment, from the cold, from the hard surface. It prevents foot problems.
“Oftentimes I have seen, anecdotally, it leads to increased self-image and increased self-confidence.
