Anthony Iles, case worker assistant on the project access bus from Healthcare For The Homeless, shares some inspiring stories he witnessed while delivering I Am Waters’ bottles of water to the Houston homeless over the summer. Article written by Carlie Brown (Healthcare For The Homeless)

Project Access is Houston’s only free transportation service for homeless persons. It’s a 40 passenger bus that operates a route covering 21 homeless service agencies. Every weekday for the last three months, Anthony loads up cases of water from the I am Waters Foundation and hauls them across the street to wait for the 1:33 pm Project Access Bus, where he spends the rest of the afternoon handing out the water and passing on information about local resources. “I’m big on humanity,” he says in his soft spoken humbleness, as he recounts several of the people that remind him of the difference a bottle of water can make—a seemingly small act that addresses one of life’s most basic needs.
“Thank you for the water,” the woman says. She has been waiting for six hours at the county hospital for her medication, which she has been out of for two weeks. She explained that she needed to get on the bus so she could take her medication. “I would have had to wait until I could find something to drink from or wait until tonight when I got to the shelter.”

A gentleman in his mid 50s gets on the bus with an empty bottle of water. It has the word HOPE written down the side of it. He rides the Project Access bus regularly, and between rides, he carries the empty bottle with him. When he finds a water spigot or fountain he fills it up again. On his next ride he trades in the bottle for a new one…maybe PEACE this time.

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
Read The Article At PaperCity

Photo by Shelby Hodge from Culture Map | George Foreman IV, left, visits with I Am Waters founder Elena Davis and her husband, oilman Greg Davis.

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

Continue Reading The Article

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.

Read more…

by Douglass Britt Houston Chronicle Chron.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

I Am An American Patriot - Marcus Luttrell

We are extremely proud to welcome United States Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell, to our campaign. Marcus, a born Texan, grew up knowing that he was destined to serve his country as a Navy Seal. During his deployment to Afghanistan, Marcus received the Navy Cross for his amazing acts of courage and determination while facing Taliban fighters in Operation Red Wing. Upon returning to the U.S., he co-authored the New York Times bestseller Lone Survivor and built the Lone Survivor Foundation to support wounded veterans. Marcus is the I Am Waters’ campaign face of an “American Patriot” because of his remarkable strength and will to never quit.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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

What Message Can You Send

Copy and Paste this code on your blog/page:

<a href="http://bit.ly/iamhelping"><img title="I Am Waters"
src="http://www.iamwaters.com/badges/badge-water.jpg"
alt="I Am Waters" width="150" height="150" /></a>

What Message Can You Send

Copy and Paste this code on your blog/page:

<a href="http://bit.ly/iamhelping"><img title="I Am Joy"
 src="http://www.iamwaters.com/badges/badge-joy.jpg"
alt="I Am Joy" width="150" height="150" /></a>

What Message Can You Send

Copy and Paste this code on your blog/page:

<a href="http://bit.ly/iamhelping"><img title="I Am Love"
src="http://www.iamwaters.com/badges/badge-love.jpg"
alt="I Am Love" width="150" height="150" /></a>

What Message Can You Send

Copy and Paste this code on your blog/page:

<a href="http://bit.ly/iamhelping"><img title="I Am Hope"
src="http://www.iamwaters.com/badges/badge-hope.jpg"
alt="I Am Hope" width="150" height="150" /></a>

What Message Can You Send

Copy and Paste this code on your blog/page:

<a href="http://bit.ly/iamhelping"><img title="I Am Faith"
src="http://www.iamwaters.com/badges/badge-faith.jpg"
alt="I Am Faith" width="150" height="150" /></a>

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. ”

Read more…

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.

Voting Starts February 1st

On February 1, 2001 voting begins on the RefreshEverything.com website to choose the most worthy causes for Pepsi to award monetary prizes. I Am Waters really needs your help and support to get the word out and vote for this great cause.

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Here’s the video we created for the Refresh Everything campaign:

Click here to view the embedded video.