Once you hear him speak, there is no mystery why Dr. Ira Diamond, DPM, is chair of the Culver City Committee on Homelessness.
He brings a humble, impassioned perspective that frequently is megaphoned but much less often lived out.
Meet an exception.
On the day after what now will become an annual regional ritual, counting the homeless in each community across Los Angeles County at the same time and night, Dr. Diamond was fairly glowing.
“It was a real marvelous experience,” he said of the 13 four-person teams of volunteers.
Observing from long experience, Dr. Diamond said sagely: “You always get more than you give when you do charitable work.”
He was quick to pay tribute to his committee members – Deborah Wallace, Alex Fisch, Kim Gibson, Evlynne Householder, Freddy Puza and Paul Taylor.
“I told everybody that we are enjoying ourselves now, but pretty soon we are going to do a very serious job,” Dr. Diamond said. “The results of our efforts, the enumeration, or the counting, will determine what precious resources are received by various locales throughout the L.A. area, based on need. “There is only a finite amount of resources. We want them to go where the biggest needs are.
“It is really important,” Dr. Diamond said, “that we do accurate counting.”
The precise number of homeless persons in Culver City and elsewhere will not be disclosed until a later, unspecified date.
Two members of the City Council, Meghan Sahli-Wells and Jim Clarke, as usual, were at the fore of the brace of recognizable team leaders.
“We had fantastic participation all different organizations,” Dr. Diamond said. “Temples, churches, service clubs and other non-profits. It was really cool.”
The choice of a baker’s dozen number of teams to span Culver City’s obvious and more subtle neighborhoods in search of unhoused people was not a randomly selected figure. “We divided into 13 teams because we always learn from previous counts what works best,” said Dr. Diamond.
Wednesday evening’s count was organized by the Committee on Homelessness, “along with our fantastic Housing Dept., led by Tevis Barnes, along with Sgt. (William) Jackson of the Police Dept., and St. Joseph’s, whom we work with during the year.”
The committee chair’s vigor and unbridled enthusiasm for his assignment volleys through every observation he makes.
“Working on the count is a very positive experience,” Dr. Diamond said. “Part of it is a community-building experience. We enjoy each other’s company. And we have fantastic food being donated by a variety of businesses – there is Sorrento Market, Tub’s, Tito’s Tacos, Copenhagen Bakery and Starbucks.”
Now the wait begins to determine whether the homeless population will rise or fall from last year’s count of 33.
