Vision Trips: Why We Travel with Healing Waters International

In two weeks, a small group of 1040.com employees will go to Haiti with Healing Waters International, but it’s not a “mission” trip. We won’t be helping out with the filtration systems or digging wells.

That may strike you as odd, so let me explain: We are traveling to Haiti to encounter clean water communities on a “vision trip.” Our purpose is to meet locals, hear their stories, and come away with a better understanding of the Healing Waters International’s mission and the impact of clean water systems.

But what’s the point? Why is it so important to travel once a year to remember our “vision?”

A give-back identity

Our company is built on people who pour themselves into others, and that spreads beyond our local communities. Our partnership with Healing Waters International allows us to extend our impact globally, especially in developing countries.

We donate $2 per return to Healing Waters International, which has funded more than five million gallons of clean water in the last three years alone. With each vision trip, we rotate employees from 1040.com so they can see that impact firsthand.

Extra motivation

Believe it or not, we actually love taxes. We love rising to the challenge of making taxes easy to understand and work through, and our clean water initiative drives us even more.

Our mission is to provide a user experience that makes everyone want to file with 1040.com, and with each new filer, we’re having an even bigger impact on the global water crisis.

I mean, a streamlined tax process that’s easy to use and actually makes a difference in the world? That’s something anyone can get excited about.

A humble part to play

It’s a humbling experience to go to a developing country and not do something. Last year, when we went to Guatemala, I was floored by the poverty around me.

One clean water site had the filtration system up and running, but the building around it was still being constructed as the community could afford it.

What they could afford was one cinderblock every month.

With each of those cinderblocks, however, the community is building more than a structure. I saw the pride in their work because it was, from beginning to end, their own.

That’s the vision—clean water for all.

We partner with Healing Waters International because we have seen the effect of clean water. Once that basic necessity is secure, any obstacles to education, employment and growth are not as difficult to overcome.

When we visit Haiti, that is the vision we will remember.