POURED OUT INC

Poured Out seeks to provide clean water access to every person in Haiti. We recognize that this is not an issue any single organization can complete by themselves - that’s why we have collaborated with Haitian community leaders and other water-driven organizations to identify areas in need of clean water relief. In that vein, we settled into our new home-base of Torbeck (in Haiti’s South Department) in 2015. Our Haiti projects team and Haitian staff have been relentless in their pursuit of clean water infrastructure for the past 5 years.

Despite the challenges that Covid-19 poses, we are hoping to install 200 Biosand water filters and construct 2 new Water Houses within the year for large-scale clean water use throughout communities in Haiti’s southern peninsula. Poured Out’s Haitian staff have led Torbeck’s Covid-19 response since March of 2020 all the while maintaining our existing water projects in local communities.

Poured Out’s ethos lies in communal empowerment and sustainability. Our goal is to remove ourselves from the service delivery aspect of our work to the largest degree possible without compromising the integrity of our technical water solutions. Ultimately, we believe that clean water fundamental for a healthy life. Supporting Haitians helping Haitians is the healthiest way our organization can contribute to the reduction of the clean water crisis in Haiti.

In the United States, Poured Out provides immediate and long-term relief for communities affected by natural disasters. Our goal is to have boots on the ground within 2 weeks of a disaster and to administer relief services at no cost to homeowners. Poured Out’s strengths lie in our ability to quickly deploy our disaster relief team following unexpected disasters, and connecting volunteers and resources to homeowners who ‘fall between the cracks’ of larger short-term relief organizations. In 2020, we’ve deployed to Cookeville, Tennessee to provide relief following a March tornado that caused an estimated $1 billion in damages, as well as deploying to Midland, Michigan following the collapse of multiple dams that caused an estimated $175 million in damages. In addition, Poured Out donated hundreds of N95 surgical masks (a necessity for our mold remediation services) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in response to the Covid-19 epidemic. Our plan is to promptly deploy for any natural disasters in the coming year.

Hydraid Biosand Water Filters:
Biosand water filters provide a simple, sustainable solution to potable water challenges in rural Haiti. Each biosand water filter utilizes completely natural processes to purify water. Together, these processes filter out 98% of bacteria and 86% of viruses. Hydraid filters are an exceptional solution to potable water issues in rural Haiti due to their minimal maintenance requirements for homeowners – the filter will generally never require the replacement of parts. Given the simplicity of the biosand filter, it is a convenient solution for families with its on-demand service and ability to serve an entire household with clean water.
We believe that each family and community leader is a valuable member of our team working towards providing clean water to as many individuals as possible. Poured Out looks to employ local individuals to implement clean water solutions and health education wherever possible.

Water Houses:
Water Houses constitute Poured Out’s approach to community-based potable water delivery. A Water House is a filtration system, powered by a solar panel and submersible pump, that combines a reverse osmosis process (removing particles larger than 5 microns) with ultraviolet (UV) purification (that deactivates 99% of living organisms) to treat the given water source. The treated water is then stored in large tanks with trace amounts of chlorine to prevent recontamination. All of the water treatment materials are housed within a concrete structure constructed by local craftsmen and tended to by a security guard. The treated water is then piped outside of the structure and is available to the surrounding community 24/7 at no cost. We believe solar-powered water delivery holds promise as a part of the solution to Haiti’s clean water crisis.

Disaster Relief Readiness plan:
1) Personnel - We have one staff member who is ready within a few days and it is part of their job description to mobilize and deploy. We have 3 board members who can travel to scout within a few days after a disaster and begin the necessary process of finding a suitable volunteer site and setting up.
2) Equipment - after each disaster we assess our inventory, clean, and pack our equipment for the next disaster. Our equipment is most geared toward responding to hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods at this time.
3) Publicity - We have a large audience who has signed up to be notified by newsletter of a disaster deployment, and we provide several ways in which our audience can engage with our organization and the affected community.
4) Funding - Having a disaster preparedness fund will bridge the gap of our needs to connect those who want to help to the needs, even as we are evaluating them.
5) Community Partners- We have several community partners all over the US who have offered to host us if a disaster strikes near them. Once deployed, we begin taking work orders for whatever the needs are and utilizing our partners skills and service.

Poured Out has been operating for 10 years! In that time, we have solidified a reliable staff in Haiti and the United States, consisting of 3 part-time employees in the U.S. and 3 full-time employees in Haiti. Historically, our strength has rested in our ability to bring funding and volunteers from the U.S. to Haiti in order to facilitate cultural exchange and contribution to our ongoing water projects. Given the challenges of operating in a destabilized political environment for the past two years, we have refocused our Haiti water programs to focus heavily on Haitian employment and training. Currently, we employ three full-time Water Technicians whose responsibilities include installing small-scale biosand water filters for individual families in addition to maintaining our large-scale, solar-powered Water Houses that provide clean water to entire communities. This means that regardless of what challenges are presented in Haiti (e.g. COVID travel restrictions, political instability, etc.), we have staff on the ground at all times working towards our goals.

Several years of successful disaster responses attest to Poured Out’s domestic effectiveness. We not only provide a wide variety of relief services, but we enlist numerous past volunteers to help us respond to disasters - this allows us to provide consistent and valuable services for homeowners. Our large base of volunteers enables us to immediately collect donations and deploy to disasters within days of their occurrence. Our deployments have lasted anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months at a time depending on the needs of the affected community. We provide all but not limited to the following services:

1) Mucking out homes that were water damaged
2) Removing trees that were downed
3) Tarping roofs that were damaged
4) Applying moldex
5) Drying homes that were water damaged
6) Removing debris from home
7) Excavator and skid loader removal of large debris/trees
8) Moving debris and trees to road for proper removal
9) Distribution of supplies at community partnered church
10) Teaching proper techniques for remediation of mold
11) Training community members to accomplish relief work
12) Recycling per cities’ standards
13) Clearing slab for rebuilding
14) Removing slab for rebuilding
15) Cutting trees into smaller manageable pieces for removal
16) Sorting through personal belongings
17) Moving personal belongings for future use or removal
18) Providing emotional support to individuals and families
19) Providing free meals to homeowners
20) Enlisting partners to aid in relief work

In Haiti:
- We have constructed 19 Water Houses that have produced over 3 million gallons of clean water since 2012
- We’ve installed over 1,000 Biosand water filters in the Ouest, Nippes, and Sud Departments since 2010
- We currently employ 3 full-time staff members in Haiti
- We directly employ numerous guides, translators, drivers, masons, welders, carpenters, well-diggers, and more on each trip
Looking to the future, we aim to expand our Haitian staff employment program as well as our capabilities to install Water Houses without having international volunteers present. If we can transition to a 90% Haitian-built Water House, we will be able to serve communities on a larger-scale and begin to reach out to other communities throughout Haiti’s southern peninsula. In addition, we are exploring avenues to enter the Haitian sanitation infrastructure world.
Disaster Response:
● Total (conservative estimates):
○ Total Service Value: $2+ million
○ Work Hours Donated Value: $1.5+ million
○ Total Labor Hours: 50,000+
○ Homeowners Served: 525+
● Tuscaloosa Alabama - Tornado 2011
● Joplin Missouri - Tornado 2012
● Henryville, Indiana - Tornado 2012
● Dexter, Michigan - Tornado 2012-Work hours donated value- $253,840-Homeowners served- 16
● Coney Island, New York - Hurricane Sandy 2012-2013-Work hours donated value- $241,900-Homeowners served- 41
● Moore, Oklahoma - Tornado 2013-Work hours donated value- $538,400-Homeowners served- 203
● Washington, Illinois - Tornado 2013-Total work hours value- $34,455-Homeowners served- 10
● Baxter Springs, Kansas - Tornado 2014-Total work hours value- $24,885-Total service value- $108,000-Homeowners served- 23
● Flint, Michigan - Water Crisis 2015-2016-Brought in medical teams to do lead testing, distributed water, American Aqua partner put in water system at church.
● Houghton, Louisiana - Flooding 2016-Total service value- $67,053-Total labor hours- 2025-Homeowners served- 17
● French Settlement, Louisiana - Flooding 2016- Total Labor Hours- 816- Total Service Value- $35,749
● Port Arthur, Texas - Hurricane Harvey 2017- Total service value- $309,836- Total labor hours- 11613- Homeowners served- 102
● Alva, Florida - Hurricane Irma 2017- Total Service Value $230,582- Total Labor Hours- 6489- Homeowners served- 65
● Panama City, Florida - Hurricane Michael 2018- Total service value- $49,356- Total labor hours- 1419- Homeowners served- 17
● Cookeville, Tennessee - Tornado 2020- Work hours donated value- $42,496- Homeowners served- 21
We want to continue to be on-the-ground with a rapid response to all domestic disasters that present a need. Our goals include having a reliable ‘response team’ of staff and volunteers that are prepared to deploy within days of a disaster, as well as having a disaster-preparedness fund to initiate relief efforts as soon as possible. Additionally, we are working to build our donor and volunteer base to establish stronger and more consistent connections with companies and other non-profits