In times of enormous change, GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles passed a milestone in Lynwood, a working-class community of color ten miles east of LAX that we're proud we've served for more than a decade.
Mr. and Mrs. Acevedo were childhood best friends in East Los Angeles. After their marriage, they chose Lynwood as the safe, quiet community where they wanted to raise three children, so they bought a home in the middle of town right around the time when we started most of our local single-family work. The Acevedos house fell within the territory of the State of California Disadvantaged Communities - Singe-Family Solar Homes (DAC-SASH) program. Reckoning with hundreds of dollars in annual utility bills, they were ready to enthusiastically embrace a residential solar power program that offered savings for them, plus clean energy for their community—and our Outreach staffers were delighted to work with them!
In celebration of a long record of impact GRID has made, we chose to recognize our 100th Lynwood solar project this March. Since March is Women's History Month, a women-led crew seemed like the perfect way to welcome the Acevedos into the equitable solar movement we're building in places like Lynwood! Throughout the year, our team at GRID works with partners like Women in Non-Traditional Employment Roles (WINTER) and A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) to offer solar training pathways to women from backgrounds not heavily represented in our industry. Like all 100 of the systems the City of Lynwood helped us install, this week's project enabled GRID to do our part building a more equitable solar industry (through training) while saving the community money in households that need it most.
From her home in Lynwood, special guest Mayor Aide Castro spoke to our team with warm words to recognize the occasion and thank us for committing to equity and safety in Lynwood. Since citywide temporary restrictions on gatherings went into place earlier in the morning to protect members of the public and City employees who might be vulnerable to COVID-19, we chose to celebrate Mr. and Mrs. Acevedo's installation over a call instead of in-person. "Women are important leaders," Mayor Castro recognized during her call-in. "I also believe that our leadership will be more and more important over the next few weeks." We agree—GRID's women are integral to the safe, valuable work we do everyday.
We're grateful for deserving families like the Acevedos, the City of Lynwood, all our partners, and especially those committed to keeping us safe and strong in challenging circumstances for continuing to believe that clean energy technology is important to a better, equitable future. With the strength we see in GRID's communities, we know we can continue to live out GRID's values, and we appreciate the part you play in it.
(Click here to learn about the GRID Alternatives response to the COVID-19 virus.)