Baby Lisa is one of them.
Lisa Teller is only a year-and-a-half old, but she doesn't live at home with her family. That's because her house - not far from Flagstaff, AZ - doesn't have clean, running water. Without it, she could get sick or even die.
At just four days old, Baby Lisa was diagnosed with Microvillus Inclusion Disease (MID), a rare digestive disorder. Shortly after her diagnosis, she was offered a crucial small intestine transplant, but her surgery was cancelled when the transplant center discovered that Baby Lisa's home had no running water.
That decision shocked her parents LaTanya and Troy, who thought their daughter wouldn't survive. They scrambled to find a safe, healthy place for Lisa to live so that she could get back on the transplant list.
So for the last 18 months, Baby Lisa has lived in the Bogden House, a medical care facility in Phoenix, seven hours roundtrip from her family. While she's safe and well cared for, her parents can only visit her twice a month. They missed Baby Lisa's first word and her first tooth. The first time she said "momma" was to her day nurse.
Once Baby Lisa's surgery is complete, she still won't be allowed to go home. Not until that home has a tap and a toilet.
Baby Lisa isn't alone. Nearly a million children in the U.S. still don't have running water at home. When most Americans imagine life without water, they think of places like Subsaharan Africa. But every day, water poverty keeps American kids from going to school, from playing with friends, or even from living with the family that loves them.
Today is World Water Day - a day to celebrate water and to reach out to the communities that still don't have it. You can have your own impact by helping Baby Lisa. LA-based nonprofit DIGDEEP is raising $50,000 to build Baby Lisa a water line and a new bathroom so that she can live with her family.
Because every American child should have clean, running water.
If you want to learn more about Baby Lisa's story and the campaign to bring her clean water, you can click here.