A Day At East Lake

This week we had the honor of meeting with the Director Of Development at The East Lake Foundation to learn a bit more about how Brilliant! could partner with them. We learned so much about the amazing history of The East Lake Foundation and their very exciting future!

A quick overview of how The East Lake Foundation came to be: in summary the community of East Lake was once a vacation spot in the early 1900's and slowly descended into a phase of violent crime and drugs by the 1970's. The East Lake community had gained the nickname "Little Vietnam", for good reason as the crime rate grew to 12x higher than the national average. East Lake was a place everyone was retreating from, however Tom Cousins ran head first into the issue based on his belief that this community could be revitalized. Cousins then created a major revitalization project which would transform the entire community.

Within this revitalization project, The East Lake Foundation was created in 1995. Upon just celebrating their 20 year anniversary , Brittany was able to share the amazing impact they have had thus far! The East Lake foundation believes in a holistic approach to redevelopment, focusing on purpose built communities. Communities built on Mixed income housing, cradle to college education, and community wellness. Through this approach they have a wide array of strategic programs throughout the community.

As a result of this, violent crimes have been reduced by 95%, graduation rate near 90% (compared to less than 30% in 1995), ALL eligible adults are working or in job training (compared the the EMPLOYMENT rate of 13.5%).

The East Lake Foundation is incredible, and we are proud to announce we will be working with them this quarter. We are looking forward to see how they continue to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty through holistic re-development over the next 20 + years!

J.Rich Atlanta Team and Brittany from the East Lake Foundation on the East Lake Golf Course

Thank YOU!

Thank you for choosing to work with J.Rich Atlanta and making the work that charity:water is doing in Ethiopia possible. Because of YOU 600 people in Ethiopia will be able to have access to clean drinking water... this is amazing.

Check out the impact you are making by reading through our project information below. Thank you for being awesome!!! #bebrilliant

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Rachel's Story

On July 23, 2011, nine-year-old Rachel Beckwith was killed in a tragic car accident on highway I-90 near Seattle, Washington. After her death, thousands of people all around the world started donating to her mycharity: water fundraising page, and over the course of a month, raised over $1.2 million in Rachel’s honor. That money is now helping 37,770 people get access to clean water. It's been exactly a year since the accident. In honor of the anniversary, Rachel’s mom, Samantha, and her grandparents, Richard and Roseanne, visit Ethiopia with charity: water and meet some of the people Rachel helped. We’ve documented the entire day on video so we can share it with all of you. www.charitywater.org Video by Jamie Pent - @jazzyjamieleigh Music by Sleeping at Last - @sleepingatlast

Meet : the jerry can

The yellow jug in the charity:water logo is called a 'jerry can' , it is a symbol of the water crisis around the world. Although used as a symbol for us, it has a very practical use to others as it is a vessel that transports water for miles.

The jerry can is a 5 gallon container used for fuel but then recycled to be used for water. When the can is full, it typically weighs about 40 pounds. The woman or children of the house normally are the ones to fetch water each day. For a community lacking in a sufficient clean water source, this could mean walking up to 3 miles each way carrying a full jerry can. As a result of the long distance, a family is left to use about one container for all their needs.

This includes washing dishes, taking a bath, brushing your teeth, nourishment for your body, cooking...the list goes on. To put this in perspective, an average American uses 150 gallons of water a day, which would be 30 jerry cans of water - 1,200 pounds for one person.

Clean and accessible water allows children to go to school, improves health and sanitation, and improves a household income. We are working to make this a reality for 600 people. 600 people could have their life tremendously improved just from water.

water is everything

Can you imagine waking up and not having access to water? No water to make your coffee with (whoah), wash your face, take a shower, wash your clothes... Imagine having to sacrifice half of your day to fetch water. Once you have this water you have to carry it miles back to your home. Once you are home you are afraid of getting sick from this water, or someone in your family catching disease. Something that we don't have to think twice about, some people are dying from. Wow.

Letting this truth sink in is heavy and can be hard to process. Thankfully our friends at charity:water are motivated to make a change. Not only that, but our inviting communities to rally together and support their cause of bringing clean water to developing nations. It is an amazing cause to be a part of.

Check out this 360 video of a friend in Ethiopia who receives water for the first time! The well in this video is the same one we are raising money for! Virtual Reality Video

charity: water

We are excited to announce the very FIRST organization that 'Brilliant!' has the honor to partner with! In the next few months, we will be working with charity:water to bring clean water to people in Ethopia! Our goal is to help 600 people get clean water for the first time in their communities.

Did you know that water borne diseases kill more people than any other form of violence? Clean water is possible if we work together to help those who have limited resources. Our goal over the next few months is to bring awareness to the water crisis and work together to bring clean water to communities in Ethiopia! #bebrilliant