Michael Elkins first learned about GRID through his fellowship with Mission Continues, a nonprofit that empowers veterans by helping them build skills and networks to successfully reintegrate them into the civilian lifestyle. He served his country in the United States Army for a little over 20 years, before being honorably discharged in the rank of First Sergeant. Michael worked as an intern for both Construction and Workforce & Volunteer departments in 2017-2018.
Michael purchased a home and moved with his three children to the City of Moreno Valley, California three years ago. Since leaving GRID, he has retired from the Army and enjoys being a stay-at-home dad and taking care of his kid’s.
GRID’s Energy for All Program helps qualified homeowners such as Michael with significant savings on their electricity bill. Michael phoned GRID and applied to see if he qualified for no cost solar through GRID. He was happy to return to GRID from being an intern, to a qualified homeowner.
“The process was really great. Everything was very easy and straightforward. It helped that I kind of had knowledge about the process because of my previous experience working at GRID,” he said.
Since he had knowledge and experience on installing solar, Michael said he would have liked to help with the installation on his home, but unfortunately was unable to due to current COVID safety restrictions. When asked if he practices energy efficiency in the home, he said yes! “I teach my kids the importance of being energy efficient. I remember some useful information I learned from the GRID presentations about vampire appliances and how they suck up energy even when the appliance is not in use.”
To find out if you are eligible for GRID’s Energy For All Program, call 1-866-921-4696 or visit www.energyforallprogram.org.