The nonprofit Safe Place for Youth, which moved into its current building along Venice's main highway corridor in 2015, delivers services to hundreds of individuals across its Continuum of Care every year. Now the organization is ready for some freely-delivered care of a different kind … in the form of a custom-designed solar photovoltaic system that will make daily operations more affordable and channel more dollars into an outstanding youth mission.
Money raised at 2017's Sunstock Solar Festival and via the online platform Climate Cents offset costs from this GRID Alternatives project, allowing a system estimated to be worth $25,000 to benefit the Venice community. (Utility bill savings over the system’s lifetime could exceed $75,000.) Delivering this planned system to a unique space in Venice is the most recent partnership goal between our team and the two-year-old Sunstock Solar Festival, started by members of Trapdoor Social and famous for its solar-powered mission.
Both years of Sunstock have allowed local nonprofits to reduce operating expenses and be part of the transition to clean energy, a one-of-a-kind deal! Paying lower costs for the electricity used in staff offices, computer lab, and elsewhere frees up resources to help the at-risk population on the Westside, and it also lets new types of solar users join the GRID Alternatives movement. Last year’s Sunstock Solar Festival benefitted the Kids Cancer Connection Family Health and Wellness Center in the San Fernando Valley, which we blogged about in this post.
"I'm thrilled that GRID Alternatives is participating in another fundraising project with Sunstock," said Michael Kadish, Executive Director of GLA. "This innovative festival has let us provide solar for worthy organizations, helping them achieve their missions and giving them critical resources to help youth take control of their lives. Bringing this solar to Venice will eliminate 153 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of the system. We appreciate festival founders Skylar Funk and Merritt Graves, Nick Karno and the folks at Climate Cents, and everyone whose efforts make Sunstock a successful collaboration and celebration of clean power from the sun."
Learn more about Climate Cents' involvement in this effort here.