NCG member Judy Belk, President and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation (Call Wellness), is a seasoned leader with more than 25 years of senior management experience in philanthropic, government, nonprofit and corporate sectors. She is a frequent writer and speaker on organizational ethics, race and social change, and her work has been recognized with several state and national awards. Judy writes frequently for Cal Wellness in her column For Wellness' Sake. Her pieces have also aired on National Public Radio and appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and most recently the Los Angeles Times.
On August 16th, the Los Angeles Times published Judy’s Op-Ed, Memories of a thirsty childhood. In her article, she addresses water poverty, drought-shaming and what it means to take water for granted.
In California's most marginalized communities, especially in rural parts of the Central Valley, the drought is compounding a groundwater contamination crisis. Backyard and community wells are running dry. The American Red Cross is poised to deliver emergency drinking water in some counties. Meanwhile, water bills are going up faster than inflation and reaching unaffordable levels for the poorest. Researchers call this water poverty — a struggle to meet one's daily water needs — and by some estimates, 1 million people in California lack access to safe and affordable water.
I know from personal experience the physical and emotional toll water poverty exacts. For the first 12 years of my life, my family lived without running water or indoor plumbing. We lived just 10 miles from the White House in a black neighborhood in Alexandria, Va., and in the late 1950s and '60s, segregation extended beyond public schools and movie theaters and where you could live. It also meant that the city had never brought water or sewer pipes to our neighborhood.
I know from personal experience the physical and emotional toll water poverty exacts. For the first 12 years of my life, my family lived without running water or indoor plumbing. We lived just 10 miles from the White House in a black neighborhood in Alexandria, Va., and in the late 1950s and '60s, segregation extended beyond public schools and movie theaters and where you could live. It also meant that the city had never brought water or sewer pipes to our neighborhood.
To read the full op-ed, learn more about Judy’s experience with water poverty and to get access to more drought-related resources, please visit the Cal Wellness website here.