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Giving a tour of Cristo Rey's gleaming hallways, then dropping in on a chemistry class where students enthusiastically cluster around lab experiments, Martinez emphasizes the power and primacy of his school's mission: "Cristo Rey Jesuit marries Houston's corporate culture with a college-prep culture serving children living in the most financially challenged neighborhoods, to form a partnership that will not only save the lives of these children, but [ensure] Houston's future as well." HYDRATION AND HOPE ELENA DAVIS — I AM WATERS FOUNDATION Elena Davis "It's often the simplest things that bring profound change," proclaims I Am Waters Foundation's book Dream, penned and overseen by its creator, Elena Davis, who also founded its mission four years ago. A former 1980s-era glamour girl who's graced the cover and pages of fashionable magazines the world over, from Cosmopolitan to Harper's Bazaar‚ Davis was enjoying a privileged life in Houston as a mom and wife when an encounter with a homeless woman moved her. It was a scorching summer day, and the imploring lady at a roadside intersection made an impact. "As I rolled down my car window to hand her the water she requested, I realized that while I had never met her before, I felt I knew her well," Davis writes. "It was at that moment that a fire was lit within me; that fire has become the I Am Waters Foundation." Since the summer of 2009, more than 500,000 water bottles — emblazoned with words that offer simple, positive messages of change: Love, Joy, Peace, Faith and Hope — have been delivered directly to the people who need them with the assistance of Davis and her heartfelt nonprofit. I Am Water reaches out to Houston, Fort Worth and Austin agencies serving the homeless, from Star of Hope to SEARCH and the Salvation Army. The goal for summer 2012 is to serve 600,000 people in need of hope and hydration. Elena Davis Fulfilling the mission The foundation's Dream volume and Web site give a face to homelessness in America while sharing Davis' personal story of growing up as "one of four children born into a broken home and poverty." Modeling provided a way out; Davis' life comes full-circle this month as I Am Waters organizes its first fund-raising luncheon — set for Wednesday, April 25, at River Oaks Country Club — which draws upon its founder's career with its "Super Models of the '80s" theme. "I asked those I knew from the modeling world, and, incredibly, everyone I called said 'yes,'" she recalls. Among the headliners coming to town for the cause are cover girls Kim Alexis, Dianne deWitt, Kelly Emberg and Cheryl Tiegs, who will participate to push along Davis' vision: "We can't allow one American to remain without life's most basic needs — water and the will to dream." MUSIC MEN OMAR AFRA AND JAGI KATIAL — FITZGERALD'S, FREE PRESS HOUSTON At first glance, hipsters Omar Afra and Jagi Katial seem more like a pair who would frequent a bar than own one. However, appearances are deceiving: Not only are these diehard music fans — both under the age of 35 — the proprietors of the newly revamped Fitzgerald's in the Heights, but they also delve, individually and in tandem, into myriad other (ad) ventures. Their projects range from publishing the Free Press Houston (a reincarnation of the old Public News, where yours truly got her start, revived by Afra and grown into a monthly with a readership of 100,000) to serving as concert promoters of the wildly successful Summer Fest every June. Katial works as a booking agent via his Pegstar productions; he's also a former NASA programmer, while Afra, a UH political science grad, is an occasional musician. In the summer of 2010, this pair bought Fitzgerald's, the almost crumbing shrine to live music on White Oak, from owner/founder Sara Fitzgerald. The stalwart Fitzgerald opened the dual-venue concert hall in 1977 and, for 30-plus years, brought in the red-hot and upand-comers to perform at the historic space, circa 1918, that once catered to the Polish community as the Heights social club Dom Polski. The upstairs stage showcased headliners who crossed time and genres, from James Brown, Tina Turner and Steve Ray Vaughan to ZZ Top, R.E.M., The Ramones, Etta James and Marcia Ball. The downstairs space — originally the hall's kitchen with adjoining stables — featured free concerts by rising talents. Thanks to Afra and Katial, Fitz's now lures hundreds of ardent new Gen-X and -Y fans to its hallowed halls each week. Oft compared to CBGB's for its preeminence as an incubator space and cited by Afra as "the best live venue in Texas" (he met his future wife while playing a gig there), Fitz's is readying for the next 30 years. As the crisply painted signage proclaims: "Fitzgerald's. If music be the food of love, play on." Omar Afra and Jagi Katial APRIL | PAGE 53 | 2012