LOS ANGELES — Coordinating and distributing thousands of gallons of water has become Sofia Guadron’s Sunday morning routine.
“As a rule of thumb, we do give out about two gallons per person,” Guadron said. “We did order eight pallets from Costco this week. But if you were here last week, you saw that we ran out of water really quick.”
A group of about two dozen volunteers loaded several cars with two-liter gallons of water from two U-Hauls. This is water that will be distributed directly to thousands of unsheltered residents in Los Angeles’ Skid Row.
“We’re going to go to downtown,” Guadron said. “We’re going to drive thru Broadway and see all the nice cafes. You see the luxury apartments, you see the condos. We’re going to turn on Seventh and it’s like a drastic change.”
The need for clean water access drove Guadron to join Water Drop LA. Water Drop LA started its grassroot efforts and “water drops” at the height of the pandemic.
Guadron now serves as the executive director for the nonprofit now on its 158th weekly water drop.
According to the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, more than 46,000 people are homeless in the City of Los Angeles — that’s up 10% from last year. A significant number of them live on Skid Row.
“It might not seem like substantive things, but I think it’s still very important,” Guadron said. “Especially now with the heat and the sun, have you noticed there is almost little to no shade.”
The same count found that the homeless population represents more than 75,000 of LA County’s more than 9.8 million people. According to 2022 data from the LA Coroner’s Office, the homeless population accounts for nearly 5 in 12 heat illness or heat exposure deaths that year.
The volunteers that make their way through Skid Row’s streets every Sunday have become invaluable for homeless residents like Mary Ward. Skid Row has been home to Ward for more than a year. The weekly water drops help alleviate some of her daily struggle to find clean drinking water.
Ward, who's been homeless for more than a year, said these deliveries help alleviate some of her daily struggle to find clean drinking water.
“We have to find a way to find the water,” Ward said. “It’s like being in a desert. You can’t always know if the water is always going to be there.”
Week after week, Water Drop LA is dropping off a basic need for those in need. Guadron said the ability to continue this work all depends on the empathy of their volunteers to improve access for people like Ward.
“We understand that we are a Band-Aid solution,” Guadron said. “It’s nice to be surrounded by people who care and people who believe or have those same beliefs that I do.”
Water Drop LA is currently looking for volunteers to participate in their weekly water drops. Visit their website for more information.