When Tommy Minor was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, he didn’t hear much about renewable energy. Yet his winding path through various worlds, including community ties in downtown Cleveland, Bowling Green University, psychology studies at Morehouse College, hip hop act tour management, and work with a social justice non-profit led him to land in his current position with GRID Alternatives North Valley as the Workforce Development and Volunteer Coordinator.

When Shivam Desai, a junior studying physics at Santa Clara University, first heard about GRID Alternatives from his professor, he was intrigued by its multifaceted strategy to address social justice and environmental justice issues at the same time.

Sacramento homeowner and GRID system recipient Delbert Farmer kindly shared his story with GRID Alternatives North Valley about being on the frontlines of the Korean War.

When US Army Major Renee Marie first stepped onto the GRID Alternatives women veterans’ Sacramento installation jobsite in July, the morning seemed to grow even brighter with her enthusiastic smile.

Professional free-climber Alex Honnold helps install solar for a Sacramento family.

Meet Katie Neal, the newest SolarCorps Construction Fellow in the North Valley office.

On a sunny August afternoon in South Sacramento, GRID Alternatives North Valley staff and volunteers stepped off of Milton Currie’s roof after installing a no-cost solar-electric system through GRID’s partnership with Sacramento’s local utility company.

This summer, the GRID North Valley Sacramento office was thrilled as one of our trainees was hired onto our staff as a Solarcorps Construction Fellow. 18 year-old Andre Marks recently graduated from Sacramento Job Corps.

On a sunny Saturday morning in June, five women came together to volunteer in a South Sacramento neighborhood by installing a solar array. Many of them had never met one another or the homeowner they served, but they were all held together by a common bond: each of these women, along with GRID Outreach Coordinator Kim Garrett, comes from a background of military service.

It’s official: our state’s historic drought continues. How can we respond as responsible citizens to maintain a healthy community?