Lawmakers, activists seek remedies to make clean drinking water more accessible and affordable

For almost seven years, the Barnes Memorial Church in Northeast Baltimore came perilously close to bankruptcy — all because the church owed the city almost $7,000 on its water bill. It took years of navigating the legal system and the city bureaucracy for the church to settle its debts, avoid foreclosure, and secure its financial future. “We had all kinds of inconveniences, all kinds of harrowing experiences, because we did not know the process,” recalled Bishop Mark James, the church pastor.