Clients

After having been forced to relocate after experiencing severe flooding in their home in rural Peru, Kristen and her family are no strangers to disaster. Kristen, a California native, met her husband Luis while living in Peru before moving the family back to Concow to their new “forever home.”

Their home in Concow was surrounded by “beautiful cedar trees, towering over the house and a meadow. It had deer running around in the front yard. Lots of trees and a big yard. Dad was excited about [the outdoors] to play with his grandkids,” says Kristen.

Thirza moved to the City of Ontario with her husband and oldest daughter 35 years ago. She heard about GRID Alternatives Inland Empire (GRID IE) through a friend, who told her there was a great program through the City of Ontario that provides low-income families with assistance for roofs and solar. Thirza’s husband started repairs to their roof, but sadly passed away before being able to finish the project. Her friend thought she could really benefit from the program, since she knew about Thirza’s situation.

What’s clear is that the climate crisis and racism are parts of a larger picture that has prevented us from evolving in the ways we think about energy. We’ve needed to take collective action to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for a long time, and, without it, there have been catastrophic human consequences, especially for communities of color around the world.