Content area
Full text
FLINT - The water crisis has not spared anybody in the Vehicle City. On Thursday afternoon, Palestinian American activist Mona Sahouri walked over to the local offices of the United Way, a national charitable organization, to acquire four pallets of water for Arab American residents.
nie city has received "overwhelming support" over the past week, after the elevated lead level in its water supply dominated national news and became a topic of discussion during the latest Democratic presidential debate. Despite the abundance of bottled water sent by private donors and humanitarian groups, Sahouri wants to make sure that the city's Arab American families have access to it.
After a short conversation with a United Way official, the CEO of the company called, pledging to send unlimited supplies to the St. George Orthodox Church.
Sahouri, the executive director of the Flintbased Arab American Heritage Council, said despite negative stereotypes, the Flint community has shown a great spirit in coming together to face the catastrophe.
Flint's drinking water became contaminated after the state-appointed emergency manager temporarily switched its source from the Detroit system to the Flint River.
River water caused corrosion in the pipes, but the Michigan Department of Environmental Equality insisted that the water was safe to consume despite complaints of foul odor, unusual color and outbreaks of rashes.
Independent studies showed elevated lead levels in both the water and children's blood.
Gov. Snyder took responsibility for the man-made catastrophe and apologized to the city's residents in his State of the State address on Tuesday.
Snyder released emails relating to the crisis on Wednesday. The correspondence revealed that the governor's top aides tried to play down the lead levels in residents' blood.
Disappointment
Sahouri said she first noticed die water (Hoblern at the Arab American Heritage Council's office.
The AAHC is housed in a building on the University of Michigan-Flint's campus. Sahouri said the water had an unusual color and about 10 months ago the school warned people not to drink it.
"I thought it was a...