As progress approaches a halfway point, we've had nothing but positive experiences so far during this year's major multifamily project at City Gardens Apartments. Like all the solar energy we deliver, this big Santa Ana multifamily effort brings the benefits of renewable power generation to people who face an acute need. Through a partnership with LINC Housing Corporation, we have access to hundreds of units of apartment housing, officially designated for families with limited incomes, where we plan to install panels through the end of next month that will provide eventual tenant savings. What's even more imporant in Santa Ana is the opportunity to gain the trust of more than 200 City Gardens residents, a diverse group of individuals whose interest in green technology and openness to the opportunities before them represent the best Orange County has to offer.
Thanks to active reaching out we did in April and May, GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles has a group of City Gardens residents who are especially invested in the installation. Two such residents are Juan Avalos and his daughter Janette with a heightened curiosity about clean energy technology. Like their peers interested in GRID Alternatives, Juan and Janette spent their Saturday morning in the City Gardens common room. We introduced them to the basics of their system and prepared them to install twenty-four modules atop the community's rooftops. With some safety preparation and a little introductory knowledge under their belt, Juan and Janette's class was ready to help out with the multifamily project.
Given that the Avalos father-daughter team lives in one of the first family apartments to ever get solar from GRID, it's been especially heartwarming to watch their teamwork on the project. Seeing two consecutive generations of Santa Ana residents passing a panel from point A to point B isn't necessarily all that revolutionary in installation, but it moves us closer to the people-centered mentality driving our unique approach (indeed, the value of people is key to the GRID Alternatives engagement with People—Planet—Employment, aka the triple bottom line). Next up for Juan, Janette, and their fellow City Gardens resident solar students is a formal classroom training that will teach them about the fundamentals of photovoltaics by mid-summer. That classroom setting will be enhanced by the presence of a leading solar expert from Tierra Institute International and give those who participate a foot in the door to industry employment. But in the meantime, Solar Installation Supervisor Nick Gomez and the rest of the GLA team are simply grateful to engage people like these: sharing their world on a June installation weekend, and hopefully opening up a new world for their family in the future.
