Cast One’s Bread Upon The Waters

Cast One’s Bread Upon The Waters

Houstonian Elena Davis began thinking about a mission statement to support homeless people’s most basic need — water — when she was approached a year ago at a traffic light by a homeless person asking for money. She had no cash in hand, only a cold bottle of unopened water, so she gave him that (it was 98 degrees in the middle of July). She received such grateful thanks that she began thinking about how people living in our city streets can find fresh water during our long, hot summers. From that encounter grew the I Am Waters Foundation. Davis persuaded a graphic designer to create labels that offer the words Peace, Love arranged to shimmer through the water — a double blessing, hydration and the kindest of words designed to communicate and support….
via PaperCity by Holly Moore
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Bottles of Hope | A beauty on a mission: Former Ford model gives Houston’s homeless clean water

Bottles of Hope | A beauty on a mission: Former Ford model gives Houston’s homeless clean water

…Elena and Greg Davis welcomed I Am Waters supporters and newcomers to a modest gathering at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston recently — an outdoor event that drove home the message of just how uncomfortable Houston summers can be for all who are outside and particularly for the homeless.

“We’re delivering on the street and to the shelters,” Elena said, adding that the mission is not only to supply fresh water but also to “open a dialogue between the homeless and the not-homeless  … We want to raise up the homeless.” Elena takes no salary and the foundation operates on donations.

On a second front, I Am Waters gives a face and voice to the homeless through video and photography, allowing them to record their stories. Professional photographers have been chronicling the plight of the homeless in Sacramento, New Orleans and Houston. Their sagas are posted on the I Am Waters website.

Joining Elena on the I Am Waters board are former Houston mayor Bill White, philanthropist and community leader Maureen Hackett, Marsh’s Energy Practice chairman Jim Pierce, GulfStar co-founder Kent Kahle, photographer Peter Duke and Los Angeles film writer and director Walt Becker…

via Culture Map by Shelby Hodge

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Art, advocacy come together at CAMH – Chron Houston

Art, advocacy come together at CAMH – Chron Houston

Art lovers and advocates for the homeless got together for I Am Waters Foundation Meets Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, an indoor-outdoor event.

Led by I Am Waters founder and volunteer chair Elena Davis, foundation supporters shared samples of the thousands of bottles of water — each branded with an inspirational message – the charity will distribute to Houston’s homeless this summer.

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by Douglass Britt Houston Chronicle Chron.com

Dying of Thirst…Right Here In North America

Last time I checked, America was a developed country. And last time I checked, Starbucks wasn’t donating five cents per bottle of Ethos water sold in order to hydrate thirsty American families, because Americans have access to water, right? It’s always some other people in some other country that go thirsty. Not that I’m dogging Starbucks or anyone’s efforts to bring food or water to people who need it the most, but I was shocked to learn that right here in North America there are people dying of thirst — homeless people.In Maricopa County, Arizona, for example, the county’s homeless accounted for 19 percent of heat-related deaths in 2009. Though many of the deaths occurred indoors, in private residences, the homeless and the poor have the least access to protections like water, shelter and cool air.

via Jessica Rowshandel at Change.org

Homeless Blogger Lands Internship at Elle Magazine

Lesley Kennedy of Stylelist writes “Here’s a story that still has us smiling. Blogger Brianna Karp (known as “Bri”) — who also happens to be homeless — managed to land an internship with Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Yep, the Orange County writer, who posts about homeless issues on her blog, The Girls Guide to Homelessness, wrote about her experience entering a fashion advice contest back in April, which eventually landed her an audition for a reality show.

The reality show prize was an internship at Elle — mentored by the magazine’s advice columnist E. Jean Carroll — Bri told homelesstales.com.

“Of course, I totally bombed it,” she wrote on her blog. But the experience prompted her to write a letter to Carroll asking about second chances after a bad job interview.

Carroll’s response, posted in July’s Elle? An offer for a four-month internship. ”

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Bringing A Word Of Encouragement

We would like to invite you to participate in bringing a word of encouragement to those in need. Write a poem(100 words or less) containing the word “water”, that will bring hope, encouragement, joy, peace, love, and faith. Make your submission in our Facebook Page at http:///www.facebook.com/iamwaters.

At the end of the day the poems will published on our website at http://iamwaters.com.

Thank you and we look forward to see your submissions.

Houston’s Working Class Gets Bumped into Homelessness and Poverty by the Crashing Economy

Mike Giglio from the Houston Press reports on how the economy is affecting the working class, and how has led to an increase in homelessness in the city of Houston.

The full force of the recession is finally hitting Houston. It could lose 44,000 jobs in 2009, according to a recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 101.8 percent last year, including 18.4 percent in December alone. The year-end unemployment rate increased by a quarter, to 5.5 percent. “Houston’s economy is now locked into the national economy,” says Klineberg. The city, he adds, will at last join the rest of the country in its “day of reckoning for living beyond our means.”

For many Houstonians, that means foreclosure and eviction, and a growing number of people and families are suddenly facing homelessness. Houston is not ready to help. Its underfunded and outdated homeless system is already stretched thin by a population 10,000 strong, which gets help to subsist in homelessness but not overcome it — or avoid it in the first place. Briggitte Stevenson, the chief case manager at Star of Hope, calls it a “full circus,” something previously stable, working people — especially families — will be hard-pressed to navigate on their own.

Aid agencies across the city are reporting big spikes in demand. Northwest Assistance Ministries, a network of more than 45 congregations with a combined annual budget of nearly $10 million, saw a 10 percent rise in requests for its family shelter program from 2007 to 2008, along with a 25 percent increase in applications for help paying the rent, mortgage or utilities. Catholic Charities reopened from hurricane damage in January to an almost 20 percent increase in rent assistance requests. At the United Way of Greater Houston’s 211 referral hotline, the number of calls increased in January and February — by 105 percent for food, 51 percent for utility assistance, 35 percent for rent and mortgage assistance, and 42 percent for shelter — compared with a year ago.

New faces have been showing up at food pantries as well.

“Our agencies as a whole, whoever they serve, have been reporting that they see people they would never expect to see,” says Betsy Ballard of the Houston Food Bank, the main hub for the city’s pantries. “Folks are coming in who previously did not need help.”

Read the full article at HoustonPress.com

Mayor of Skid Row LA

Jeff Page, activist and resident of Skid Row talks the need for making a change for the better.

MyFox Austin – Homeless Cope With The Heat

MyFoxAustin writes “With a continuous 10 hot days of high degree temperatures, the city of Austin and other organizations have taken the task at hand, distributing water around the city for the homeless who need it most.”Access to proper hydration is simply imperative to survival, and something most of us take for granted,” said Council Member Morrison. Since the heat wave began, there have been 37 heat related emergencies.”

The Daily Texan – Tortuous heat threatens Austin’s thirsty

Ryan Moore from The Daily Texan reports “As the daily temperatures continue to stay above the 100 degree mark, the homeless are the ones who are most affected by such extreme heat. The need for water is essential for their health, with temperatures as high as these they tend to lose water faster and are prone to dehydration. The city of Austin has set up hydration stations around the city”

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