PHOENIX — The Arizona Red Cross wants your help to keep neighbors safe this summer before it’s too hot and too late.
Recently, the Red Cross, City of Phoenix, and the Arizona Association of Manufactured Home Owners (AAMHO) came together to canvass communities as a part of this year’s heat preparedness plan.
“We just want people to be as prepared as possible for the different resources that are available once the heat is here because it will be too late for us to go door to door,” Georgi Donchetz, with the Arizona Red Cross, said. “We want people to be empowered now.”
With more than 1,400 manufactured, mobile, and RV home communities in the state, they can’t reach every unit at increased heat risk. So, the groups are asking the public to spread the word in their neighborhoods.
“If neighbors take the responsibility to actually help their neighbors by sharing information, it’s good,” AAMHO President Kath Noble said.
Maricopa County data shows that more than 20% of all indoor heat deaths last year were in mobile homes, RVs, or trailers.
Noble said people should find out who their neighbors are, if they plan to stay for the summer, and what kind of support they need during the summer heat.
“Print out some of the fliers that will prepare people and know how to recognize these heat-related illnesses, and also know how they can get some help,” Noble said.
Other resources include the Valley’s Heat Relief Network of respite and cooling centers, as well as the Nature Conservancy’s free Urban Heat Leadership Academy, which is currently taking applications for this summer.
