I Am Waters Foundation From the Runway to the Streets: Elena Davis gives Houston’s homeless a message in a bottle

002 Magazine Houston — In 2009, Davis founded I Am Waters, a nonprofit foundation that provides safe, transportable water to homeless individuals and shelters. During the summer of 2011, I Am Water delivered 300,000 bottles of water throughout Houston, Ft. Worth and Austin.

I Am Waters Foundation Helps Houston’s Homeless | Houston Lifestyle Magazine

Area nonprofits provided 186,000 bottles of water to the homeless in the Bayou City thanks to a donation from the Houston-based I AM WATERS Foundation. Nearly one-third, or 68,000 bottles, went to Star of Hope for distribution to its women and children, mobile outreach and men’s programs as part of the homeless mission’s 10-week Summer of Hope program.

Hydrating The Homeless | Houston Homeless Outreach Team

Sgt. Stephen Wick of HPD Homeless Outreach Program and friend to Houston’s homeless distributes physical and spiritual hydration with bottles of water from I Am Waters Foundation.

I Am Waters Foundation salutes Sgt. Wick, Officers Geraldo and Terry for their continued compassion, diligence and service to our homeless.

Vet Helps Other Veterans Get Off The Street | Houston, Texas | Chron.com

HOUSTON, TEXAS — The scene in James Bute Park is straight out of Alice in Wonderland In the midst of a distressingly hot, dry summer, it is raining and cool in the green space just north of downtown. Of the dozen homeless men seeking refuge under a U.S. 59 overpass, a few are reading books checked out from the library and a few more are involved in a hotly contested game of checkers. Behind them, Buffalo Bayou is a lush wilderness. To the right are winding paths that lead to impromptu camp sites. At the end of one path a man is cooking breakfast over a campfire. “It’s like stepping through a portal into another world,” says Oskar Gonzalez-Yetzirah, mingling with the men as he walks deeper and deeper into the park. “You a vet?” he asks.

Set Adrift In Houston, WWII Vet Joins Those Facing Homelessness : Harold Utsler Has Two Wars In His Past, But Has No Idea About His Future | Houston, Texas | Chron

HOUSTON, TEXAS — The last time Harold Utsler felt this lost it was 1945 and he had just accepted an honorable discharge from the Army Air Corps. Utsler had survived 50 death-defying missions over Europe as a top turret gunner and flight engineer on a B-24 bomber crew. He was in his early 20s, single and had no idea what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. “I was so confused,” he said. More than half a century later, that unsettling sense of being adrift has returned.

HPD’s Homeless Outreach Team | I Am Waters Salutes You

I Am Waters is proud to announce our partnership with HPD’s Homeless Outreach Team, founded and operated by Officers, Giraldo, Terry and Wick. Their mission is to make a human connection built on mutual trust and to offer support to our city’s homeless by providing assistance with housing; obtaining I.D’s; and step-by-step guidance, and help, with the obstacles that block the path for so many. They have facilitated housing for numerous homeless individuals in the short time they have been in operation.

I Am Waters Foundation Spends July 4 Honoring Homeless Vets | Houston, Texas | ABC 13

HOUSTON (KTRK) — Life is not easy for servicemen and women when they return home after months, even years of war.
Fortunately, there are many organizations to help them. Now one group is using something as simple as a bottle of water to inspire our vets.
The government estimates more than 100,000 veterans are homeless. They live on the streets or in transitional housing, and while many of us take it for granted, they don’t have easy access to the most basic necessity–water.

Houston Woman Has Spent a Lifetime Helping Elderly Homeless | Houston, Texas | Chron

HOUSTON, TEXAS – A collage of photographs in the front office of the Turning Point Center captures the joy and heartache of Isha Salas Desselle’s daily work.
Desselle, the center’s founder, looks at a picture of a frail woman who once lived at the center. The homeless woman, whom she described as a “real fighter,” had several ailments and had suffered a broken arm, wrist and ankle by the time she found refuge at the homeless shelter for the elderly.
Then there’s the photo of the elderly man who had cataracts and was evicted from his apartment.
“He couldn’t see to help himself,” recalled Desselle. “He was referred to us. We helped him get his operation and his disability benefits.”

On the Street: The Numbers Are In, and They’re Not Good: Our Homeless Problem Continues To Worsen | Houston, Texas | Houston Chronicle

A recently released survey of the homeless population of Harris and Fort Bend counties indicates a 25 percent increase from the previous year. According to the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, volunteers counted more than 8,500 men, women and children, with more than half that number living in unsheltered conditions.
The comparable count last year was more than 6,800. Add in prisoners at the Harris County Jail without homes and homeless people receiving emergency housing assistance, and the current total tops 13,000.

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 …