Children of Flint water crisis make change as young environmental and health activists
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Their childhood memories are still vivid: warnings against drinking or cooking with tap water, enduring long lines for cases of water, washing from buckets filled with heated, bottled water. And for some, stomach aches, skin rashes and hair loss.
Ten years ago in Flint — April 25, 2014 — city and state environmental officials raised celebratory glasses as the mayor pressed a button to stop the flow of Lake Huron water supplied by Detroit for almost half a century. That set in motion a lead and bacteria public health crisis from which the city has not fully recovered.
But dozens of children of the water crisis — now teenagers and young adults — have turned their trauma into advocacy. They provide input on public health initiatives, participate in social issue campaigns, distribute filters and provide free water testing for homeowners.