The past season was one of cultivation and deepening the roots of Soulardarity! We successfully offered empowering opportunities to both members and local residents of Highland Park! We held our first annual Energy, Sustainability & Tech Fair along with partners Parker Village and GLREA and celebrated the commissioning of Highland Park’s first smart solar-powered streetlight; expanded the PowerUp program with an educational event series along with improved Solar Buying options; and plan to deepen our understanding of the needs of the community we serve through the Blueprint for Energy Democracy Community Survey, these initiatives build power and solves problems in our community & organization.
We’re still accomplishing a lot! Here’s what we’ve been up to and information about how to get involved in what’s coming up:
CLICK HERE TO READ THIS POWERFUL MESSAGE FROM OUR ED JACKSON KOEPPEL
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PowerUP 2018 is in full swing!
The Soulardarity PowerUp program provides an opportunity for neighbors in Highland Park and surrounding areas to take advantage of great savings by pull their money together to purchase solar products they otherwise would not be able to afford. For more information please reach out to Maria Thomas, Program Coordinator or visit www.soulardarity.com/powerup.
PowerUP also has improved since last year:
- Smoother ordering process.
- Faster turnaround between payment and installation.
- New products, Better Quality, Products Vetted and approved by members.
- More financial tools to make purchasing solar even more accessible
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Growing The Vision for Highland Park
Soulardarity hosted its 1st Annual Energy Sustainability & Technology Fair this quarter. Here’s 5 responses from participants:
PHOTO: (Left) Soulardarity’s latest installation, a smart streetlight that offers wi-fi and other features, at Parker Village in Highland Parker
(Top) Packed room of members and supporters at the 1st EST Fair at the Prayer Temple of Love off of Woodward Ave. in HP
MPSC Intervening for Energy Democracy: Soulardarity has convened a group of Highland Park and Detroit organizations and networks to support intervention with the Michigan Public Service Commission to enable community-owned clean energy, keeping dollars in our community, and addressing the health impacts of fossil fuels. Through collaboration with the Abrams Law Clinic, we will continue to bring community voices directly to the energy decision-making spaces we have been locked out of.
Blueprint for Energy Democracy Community Survey & Research Plan: We’re creating a blueprint for energy democracy in Highland Park, founded on community research on the most pressing energy needs of Highland Park homes, businesses, and institutions. Our aim is to door assess 25 homes for initial data, with a goal of 200 in total. CLICK HERE for more information.
Join our staff in welcoming, Nissa Thodesen-Kasparian from University of Michigan. She is working on creating cohesive policy recommendations and leading the DCBRP 2018 Research Project for our Blueprint for Energy Democracy Research Project. She is “excited to explore this new realm of research and policy analysis in conjunction with learning more about the cities of Detroit and Highland Park and their visions for the future.”
Strengthening Membership
- Fighting and Building Toward Sustainability: Strengthening our membership structure has been one of our organizations top priorities. CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT HOW OUR MEMBERSHIP IS CHANGING
- Solar Panel donation from Appropriate Technology Collaborative: At this years Soulardarity Annual Members Meeting we were joined by our partner ATC, and an action team formed to launch a collaborative project to utilize two donated solar panels, solar supplies for operation and design capacity from our partner, the Appropriate Technology Collaborative, to address an immediate community need.
- Board Elections: Our general membership selected the following additions to our 2018 board using a Single Transferable Voting process: Christine Cowan (re-elected), Rick Brunch (newly elected), Aiko Fukuchi (newly elected) and Bridgett Townsend (re-elected).
The 2017 Soulardarity Annual Report is now available!
LIMITED TIME ONLY! Donations of $50 or more will receive a custom Get Lit mug! Click Here for more |
Regional & National Leadership
PCM: Peoples’ Climate Movement Michigan is a national movement of collaboration + action to grow our power between climate, environmental justice, and labor organizing in Michigan and advance the narrative of Climate, Jobs, and Justice. We’re sponsoring grassroots organizing events, the Michigan Environmental Justice Summit, and a cultural event in Flint MI in September. Soulardarity is serving as fiduciary and coordination team member for this collaborative effort of 24 organizations, managing a $100,00 grant from the PCM national organization.
Re-Amp (Photo: Left) Soulardarity staff and members traveled to Chicago and North Dakota this quarter to be part of the Equitable Deep Decarbonization Meeting and the Annual Meeting of the RE-AMP network.
MI- EFFA/NEWHAB Convening & Detroit G-Tour: A big thanks to members of Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) + The Network for Energy Water and Health in Affordable Buildings (NEWHAB) for organizing and hosting this convening! Being part of the tour involved doing some heavy lifting at the We The People water station, being apart of the shared vision of Highland Park’s smart, tech and eco friendly Parker Village, and building alignment by offering solutions and perspectives that will help our neighborhood leaders get to the next steps toward sustainable, conscientious communities at Avalon Village over a locally sourced lunch. A word from Juan Shannon of Parker Village HP:
“I definitely enjoyed the G-Tour and talking with the participants. They had questions that keep me on my toes and that’s a great thing!”
Coming Up: MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Blue Print for Democracy Research Team/ Volunteer drive– Saturday, July 7th, 11am-7pm SIGN UP HERE
Getting Energy Smart: Energy Bill Analysis session will be held on Wednesday August 1st @6pm RSVP HERE and Download a FREE copy of the Ecoworks Get Energy Smart workbook distributed to folks attending our weatherization series and hosted by our partner Ecoworks. What to Bring: Current Energy Bill; Participants can bring bills a few months back also which is a great way to review and identify other items that may be a problem bills allow experts to identify issues or problems and suggest solutions.
Networking & Narrative-based organizing we participate in are part of a bigger body of work to ensure that low-income people, front-line neighborhoods and communities of color have truly equitable access to the benefits of clean energy, green infrastructure and community development. Remember: if summer has you too busy to volunteer DONATE instead! $50 donations or more will receive a custom Soulardarity mug as a thank you from our team!
ENERGIZING THOUGHT: “The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was before you came in.” — J. Baldwin
Shimekia Nichols, Staff | (e) communications@soulardarity.com
http://www.soulardarity.com/