Detroit Water Project Pays Water Bills for 900 Families

The company connects donors with those unable to pay for water in Detroit.

Marissa Gawel/WDET

A non-profit is connecting Detroit residents unable to pay their water bills with donors. The Detroit Water Project has collected $170,000 so far for more than 900 families. Executive Director Tiffani Bell says when she launched the organization, she simply posted about the idea on social media.

“We just started tweeting about it. That sort of caused the press to come in, and then they just completely piled in for like a week and a half straight, and that’s where most of the donors came from. So we have over 8,000 people signed up to give.”

Bell says even though most of the news about Detroit’s water shutoffs has died down, the project is still getting a lot of donations. She says the program has already expanded to Baltimore residents in need, and she plans to bring it to more cities as well. 

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