Letter
from Paul Cleary, San Diego Regional Director I think we all feel lucky to be involved with GRID Alternatives at such an exciting time as we continue to expand throughout the state. In the last few months, we launched an office in Fresno; added six new staff members; welcomed nine new Americorps*VISTA members; completed our first several installations under the statewide SASH incentive program; and hosted fun events like the San Diego Friendraiser and our Plug In to GRID electric vehicle fundraiser at Google. Coming up we have our first annual Los Angeles Friendraiser on August 20th, and our biggest Solarthon ever on September 12th in Oakland, where we wil be installing 16 solar electric systems in one day! As always, we have to thank you, our dedicated volunteers and supporters, for making this whirlwind of activity across the state possible. Without your hard work and enthusiasm we would not be where we are today! -Paul
One Month Until Solarthon 2009!Just a few spots are left for Solarthon 2009, our largest one-day installation and fundraiser ever! Since our regular volunteer projects are so heavily oversubscribed, we've doubled the size of the Solarthon this year to 16 houses, and lowered the minimum fundraising level to $250 to make sure that as many folks can participate as possible. Join over 200 individual and industry volunteers as you learn how to install solar while bringing clear environmental and economic benefits to local families. These systems will generate over $270,000 worth of clean, renewable power for low-income families over their lifespans, while eliminating over 800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. We're also raising over $100,000 to help bring the benefits of solar to more low-income families throughout California, while helping spread the word that solar power is a practical, mainstream energy solution for all of our communities. Visit www.solarthon.org or contact Tracie Troxler at ttroxler@gridalternatives.org or (510) 652-4730 x316 to sign up!
With the statewide SASH incentive finally coming online, we're doing work in more cities and counties throughout the state. We've completed projects in the last few months in Huntington Park, Long Beach, Oakland, Oakley, Pittsburg, Pleasanton, Richmond, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Yountville. Several of these projects took place in partnership with job training groups including METRO San Diego, California Conservation Corps, and Richmond Build/Solar Richmond. In addition to these communities we have more projects coming up ranging from San Ysidro in the South, to Marin City in the North, to Fresno in the Central Valley, and many more. If you would like to participate in any of our upcoming volunteer opportunities, make sure to visit our website and sign up for our mailing list. Please remember, we have thousands of volunteers interested in participating in our projects, so it is not uncommon to be put on the waiting list more than once for both volunteer trainings and installations. Thank you everyone for your patience!
Volunteer Profile: Lois Simonds We're continually blown away at the amazing people who volunteer their time and energy with GRID Alternatives. Lois Simonds is a great example. One of our most active ground and roof team leaders over the past 18 months, she's also a professional landscaping contractor who designs and installs landscapes from an organic and permaculture perspective, as well as an experienced licensed electrician with entry-level NABCEP certification. On top of all this, she teaches introductory PV classes with the Solar Living Institute, and is helping them develop an online course as well.
"Being a volunteer and a team leader is helping me to align my skills as an electrician with the desire to work in harmony with nature and ease the burden on this earth. It is a joy to be doing this kind of work. The community of people that GRID brings together is so diverse, intelligent, and open to sharing their knowledge with the common purpose of helping this world. What could be better?" says Lois. If you haven't worked with her yet, you can meet Lois at the Solarthon where she'll be helping lead our "Women's Build" installation team. Lois says she's happy to talk with anyone interested in harnessing the power of the sun through home landscape at lois@asolarharvest.com.
"Being a volunteer and a team leader is helping me to align my skills as an electrician with the desire to work in harmony with nature and ease the burden on this earth. It is a joy to be doing this kind of work. The community of people that GRID brings together is so diverse, intelligent, and open to sharing their knowledge with the common purpose of helping this world. What could be better?" says Lois. If you haven't worked with her yet, you can meet Lois at the Solarthon where she'll be helping lead our "Women's Build" installation team. Lois says she's happy to talk with anyone interested in harnessing the power of the sun through home landscape at lois@asolarharvest.com.
New Central Valley Office Opens! GRID Alternatives' Central Valley Office is now fully up and running! Over the past several months Central Valley Regional Director Tom Esqueda has secured office space and assembled a full staff of five new GRID team members. We are excited to welcome Outreach Coordinators Alicia Bohigian and Laurie Patterson, Construction Manager Mike Fairbanks, Outreach and Program Associate Lauren Cobb and Volunteer and Training Associate Matt Wilkes. Matt and Lauren are both serving through the Americorps*VISTA program. The Central Valley office is working with Habitat for Humanity Fresno, Habitat for Humanity of Tulare County, and other local partners to build a pipeline of projects over the coming months. If you live in or near Fresno and are interested in volunteering, contact Matt Wilkes at (559) 261-4743 or mwilkes@gridalternatives.org and sign up for our volunteer opportunities newsletter on our website.
As always, we have so many people and organizations to thank for making our work possible over the past few months. First and foremost, we want to thank the Corporation for National and Community Service for their expanded support of our work and expansion through the Americorps*VISTA program, Union Bank of California Foundation for their support of our expansion efforts in the San Diego area, Winston and Strawn for their ongoing pro-bono legal assistance, as well as Chevron and NetImpact - Dominican University for sponsoring volunteer workdays with us. We also want to thank everyone who contributed to our Plug In to GRID electric car show and fundraising event, including 3Prong Power, CalCars, Clean Techies, Electric Auto Association of Silicon Valley, Electric Motorsport, Ethical Approach Electric Vehicle Center, Full Circle Fund, Go Green Motors, Google, Green Wheelin' Scooters, Green Vehicles, Heart of Green, Hesparian 100% Hand Car Wash, Lloyd Wise Motors, MacArthur Park Restaurant, Make Mine Electric, LLC, Marine Memorial Club & Hotel, Pacific Coast Motors, Pacific Gas & Electric, Parducci Wine Cellars, Renewables West, St. Ignatious College Preperatory School, Stanford Solar Car Project, Table Asia Gallery, Terra Pass, Tesla Motors, Work of Art Catering. We would also like to thank our speakers, Josh Becker of New Cycle Capital; Sherry Boschert, Co-Founder of Plug In America; Anup Jacob, Partner, Virgin Green Fund; John Suh, Staff Researcher, General Motors Advanced Technology Silicon Valley; and Saul Zambrano, Director, PG&E Clean Air Transportation Program. We would like to send a special thanks out to Anthony Ravitz of Google, Nadine Weil of Heart of Green, and Beth Trask for all their hard work and support in making this event such a great success.
The San Diego office would like to thank all the supporters of our first 'Friendraiser' event, especially the Sun Harbor Marina for providing a great venue as well as Whole Foods, Vons, Albertsons, Trader Joe's, Smart & Final Charitable Foundation, Healthy Creations, Good On Ya Bar, Baklava King, Stone Brewing Company, Eight Arms Cellars for providing food and drink as well as the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Museum of Man, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Zoological Society, Hornblower Cruises & Events, San Diego Chargers, Hike Bike Kayak Sports Inc., La Jolla Kayak, San Diego Bike & Kayak, Inc., Good Earth Plant Company for donating great raffle prizes.
Last but not least, a huge thank you to all the thousands of volunteers who continue to support us with their time and effort as we expand throughout the state, both through volunteering for installations as well as in our offices. We particularly want to acknowledge our newest AmeriCorps*VISTA members, who are volunteering a year of their lives in service to low-income communities - Brendan Beasley, Tara Bush, Lauren Cobb, Gabriela Davila, Dan Dumovich, Sarah Shimmin, Van Shu, Kevin Smith, and Matt Wilkes. We also want to welcome our new Solar Installation Supervisor Brian Simmons and new Office Manager Jill Herschman, and thank volunteers Julian Carroll, Cornelia Fletcher, Wes Schulze, and Marshall Taylor for their extra volunteer help at our Oakland office. Thanks to all of you for your work helping to bring solar to low-income families throughout California!
The San Diego office would like to thank all the supporters of our first 'Friendraiser' event, especially the Sun Harbor Marina for providing a great venue as well as Whole Foods, Vons, Albertsons, Trader Joe's, Smart & Final Charitable Foundation, Healthy Creations, Good On Ya Bar, Baklava King, Stone Brewing Company, Eight Arms Cellars for providing food and drink as well as the San Diego Natural History Museum, San Diego Museum of Man, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego Zoological Society, Hornblower Cruises & Events, San Diego Chargers, Hike Bike Kayak Sports Inc., La Jolla Kayak, San Diego Bike & Kayak, Inc., Good Earth Plant Company for donating great raffle prizes.
Last but not least, a huge thank you to all the thousands of volunteers who continue to support us with their time and effort as we expand throughout the state, both through volunteering for installations as well as in our offices. We particularly want to acknowledge our newest AmeriCorps*VISTA members, who are volunteering a year of their lives in service to low-income communities - Brendan Beasley, Tara Bush, Lauren Cobb, Gabriela Davila, Dan Dumovich, Sarah Shimmin, Van Shu, Kevin Smith, and Matt Wilkes. We also want to welcome our new Solar Installation Supervisor Brian Simmons and new Office Manager Jill Herschman, and thank volunteers Julian Carroll, Cornelia Fletcher, Wes Schulze, and Marshall Taylor for their extra volunteer help at our Oakland office. Thanks to all of you for your work helping to bring solar to low-income families throughout California!
GRID Alternatives eNewsletter -
Summer 2009
Bay Area
Office/Headquarters: 3833 Manila Avenue, Oakland, CA 94609, (510) 652-4730
Greater Los Angeles Office: 969
Sandhill Avenue, Carson, CA 90746,
(310) 324-8146
San Diego Office: 1827 Main St.
Suite #200 San Diego, CA 92113, (619)
239-4743
Central Valley Office: 3260 W. Lansing Way,
Fresno, CA 93722, (559) 261-4743
www.gridalternatives.org