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In May of 2014, residents of Flint, Michigan began complaining about the smell and color of the water coming into their homes.

In August of that year, the water was tested and evidence of E. coli and total coliform bacteria were found. The city told residents to boil their water to avoid any health problems.

However, the problem got worse and led to major car company General Motors, who stopped using the Flint River as their water source saying that it was causing their cars to corrode.

Fast-forward to February of 2015 where large amounts of lead were found in the homes of Flint residents.

Many suffered from lead poising and other bacteria related diseases because of it.

Although that was a big issues that swept the nation a few years ago, Flint is still suffering from the back lash of this incident but in a financial way.

Families now living in Detroit can’t afford to pay their utility bills which causes the water in their homes to be shut off. The Atlantic reports that over the last three years 100,000 residents have had their water shut down.

The struggle for these residents is not just to keep a roof over their head but to get clean water.

Great Big Story is a media company that covers stories just about anything using cinematography.

They have done a story on a woman by the name of Monica Lewis-Patrick. A woman who is “committed to the human right to water.”

“I can’t touch water or drink water or be in contact with water without thinking about someone not having it,” says Monica.

Monica is a resident of Flint, Michigan but is also the president of We The People Of Detroit. An organization dedicated to getting clean water to people without any.

“Low-income people in Detroit are having a hard time paying their water bill… Our job is really to meet that human need. Our services are for families who can’t afford to get their water turned back on,” explains Monica.

In America, we can usually count on the fact that we have access to clean water, but when 100,000 people concentrated in one state of the U.S. have no access to water it makes you think about the hardship that many Americans face.

It’s considered a sign of shame when the Flint water department has to come out and shut the water off at a home. Residents call it, “the blue line of shame”

Monica expresses that, “the issue of not having access to water is a really big deal. You can lose custody of your children. You can lose your property, you can also lose your quality of health.”

People like Monica are making a difference in the lives of many people with getting them access to something as simple as water.

Check out the video below on Monica and the work that her organization is doing for the people of Flint, Michigan.

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(Sources: Great Big Story & NPR)

(Photo Credit: YouTube)