toxic waste. (See sidebar “Don’t wade
in this water, children.”)
Hanna-Attisha, Walters, and Edwards all were “aggressively dismissed”
by government officials, according to
the Flint Water Advisory Task Force
report. So they started talking to
anyone who would listen, ultimately
generating national news coverage and
the attention of Brockovich.
TAKING ACTION
Since then, Disciples have been
on the scene through the Gospel in
Action – Flint. Vermont Christian
Church, a leading witness to and for
African Americans in Flint for seventy-one years, was designated a water
distribution point, supported by the
Disciples Michigan Region, the Michigan Conference of the United Church
of Christ, and Week of Compassion,
the Disciples of Christ relief, refugee
and development mission fund. Week
of Compassion plans to address needs
further when Federal Emergency
Management Administration help concludes, according to Caroline Hamilton-Arnold, WOC associate director.
Additionally, the National Benevolent
Association (NBA) has begun conversations with other partners to help
address counseling support for families
traumatized by the crisis, according to
Rebecca Hale, vice president of mission and ministry.
Woodside Church, a United Church
of Christ congregation in Flint,
Michigan, is another partner, bringing
both action and ethics to the water
"I don’t know
who is to
blame, but I
know this: If we
hadn’t been
black and poor,
someone would
have been in
jail by now.”
crisis. Early in 2014, the church’s water
committee had begun to work with
community activists on the high cost
of water for local residents. According
to the church’s pastor, Rev. Deborah
Conrad, after Flint switched from
Detroit water, people began bringing
gallon jugs of brownish tap water to
those meetings, complaining about
the water quality as well. As the water
situation deteriorated, concerns about
water quality began to outweigh concerns about costs, she said. Currently,
in addition to distributing bottled
water and filters, the church is working
with partners to advocate for changes
that include declaring Flint a federal
disaster area; expanding Medicare to
include every resident of Flint; and
restoring self-governance to the city
of Flint and other Michigan cities. For
more information about this advocacy
work, visit www.woodsidechurch.net/
flint-water-emergency.
Another partner working in Flint has
been the Genesee County Hispanic/
Latino Collaborative. Even after official
warnings about the lead-laced water
began in October 2015, outreach to the
approximately 9,000 members of the
Spanish-language community in Flint
did not begin until early 2016 when it
was initiated by Hispanic and Latino
advocacy groups. In fact, according to
Juana Olivares, President/CEO of the
Hispanic/Latino Collaborative, “Even
when the water switch happened, in
April 2014, it was only communicated
in English.” Olivares is now working
alongside others to advocate for information and services for the Span-
Rev. Andre Powell, pastor of
Vermont Christian Church,
leads worship
JUST WOMEN· Summer 2016
7