Salvador Torres has his dream job. He first fell in love with GRID Alternatives in 2012, when he started volunteering as part of his solar training at LA Trade Tech. After 400 volunteer hours, he got a job at a local solar installation company. He was thrilled to have a paycheck, but he missed the satisfaction of serving hard knock communities and working with other job trainees that he had felt while volunteering with GRID. So when a solar installation supervisor position opened up at GRID Alternatives’ Greater Los Angeles affiliate, he jumped at the chance.
Now he spends nearly every day mentoring men and women like himself, helping them get the skills they need to get their dream jobs in solar. “When the job at GRID opened up, I knew I couldn’t turn it down, it was what I originally wanted to do and what I love to do,” says Torres, “and now my number one goal is to get people jobs.”
On Saturday, August 2nd, Torres got the chance to say “thank you” in person to a company that helped make it all possible. During the GRID Alternatives Solarthon event in Santa Ana, Wells Fargo presented GRID with $100,000 for its workforce development efforts in California, and Sal himself got to lead the company’s volunteers in an installation for the Rubacalva family. This was the fourth workforce development grant GRID Alternatives has received from Wells Fargo to-date, and the company has also invested $2 million and thousands of volunteer hours to help us bring solar power and solar jobs to underserved communities in other states.
Team Leader Joseph “Jojo” Collins III helped Torres lead the installation. Growing up in LA’s Crenshaw District, he credits his mother and sister as his inspiration and reason he has been able to continue on the right path. He hopes his experience with GRID will help him open his own solar installation company one day.
Thanks to Wells Fargo for helping us make solar dreams like these come true!