“Impression by Infrastructure” – Whereas succinct, these phrases encapsulate Sol Programs’ dedication to driving constructive societal impression. They’re a name to motion – a mission to empower and elevate the communities we function a part of an equitable transition to a sustainable power future. This effort is rooted in Sol Programs’ engagement with native leaders and companions to foster an strategy to sustainable infrastructure that pairs photo voltaic power initiatives with long-term investments in ecosystems and communities disproportionately impacted by local weather change.
On this version of our Infrastructure + Impression Highlight Sequence, we pay homage to our accomplice, SOME, an interfaith community-based service group whose mission is to interrupt the cycle of poverty and homelessness by applications and providers that assist rework lives of people and households, their communities, and the programs and buildings that have an effect on them. Every day, SOME strives to revive hope and dignity one particular person at a time by its built-in “Complete Particular person Care” strategy. What started as a lunch line on the nook of North Capitol and Okay Road greater than 50 years in the past has flourished into an esteemed chief for reasonably priced housing, healthcare, rehabilitative providers, schooling, employment coaching, and meals safety all through Washington, D.C.
SOME is actively redefining reasonably priced housing within the District by making a secure basis the place its residents can discover their potential. SOME offers transitional housing applications for these incomes 30% or much less of the Household Median Earnings ($38,700 for a household of 4 as of 2021) whereas making certain that residents progress by educating them to create budgets, monetary objectives, and sustainable fee plans. Since opening its first transitional housing program in 1986, SOME now operates a portfolio of over 1,300 reasonably priced housing models for single adults, households, and senior residents, making ready them for homeownership or market-rate rents by a step-by-step course of.
Take the Bonner Household, for instance. Their time residing in SOME’s two-year accelerated housing program helped them make nice strides. Throughout the pandemic, with this system’s assist, the Bonners saved over $14,000 in housing prices and greater than $800 in emergency financial savings, all whereas paying off their bank card debt and sustaining a credit score rating of 740, permitting them to maneuver into a brand new dwelling within the District in 2022.
Photograph credit score: The Bonner Household
This dynamic strategy to care is particularly vital in a metropolis like Washington, D.C., the place prior to now 20 years, the variety of reasonably priced housing models has decreased whereas the variety of high-cost housing models has multiplied. [1] The ensuing structural boundaries proceed to have an effect on low-income residents’ capacity to afford secure and wholesome housing, meals, and utilities, amongst different requirements.
It’s due to these realities that Sol Programs stays dedicated to supporting neighborhood leaders like SOME to fill vital gaps by leveraging the advantages of sustainable infrastructure corresponding to photo voltaic power, power effectivity and important dwelling well being and security upgrades to drive constructive environmental and neighborhood impacts past the carbon discount inherent in clear power. Within the spirit of this partnership, on Could seventeenth, 2022, Sol Programs, FedEx, and SOME introduced a particular association that spreads the advantages of the Sol Programs-developed 915 kW rooftop neighborhood photo voltaic undertaking on the FedEx Categorical Eckington Place facility even additional into the District. FedEx is allocating the invoice credit generated from the photo voltaic set up, together with a supplemental money donation, to SOME to offset the annual electrical energy prices at two of its services positioned in Ward 5 – Weinberg Home, an reasonably priced housing facility that’s dwelling to twenty-eight households and Isaiah Home, dwelling to a day program for homeless adults with extreme and chronic psychological sickness. Past this quick impression, decreasing the power burden of those services will improve SOME’s capacity to dedicate further sources to initiatives that empower its purchasers to create long-term, sustainable change.
Sol Programs’ dedication to under-resourced communities is a precedence shared by the management and workers. On April twentieth, 2022, we joined SOME to have fun Earth Day by engaged on beautification initiatives at Zagami Home – one among SOME’s housing websites the place Sol Programs had beforehand made contributions towards HVAC and power environment friendly equipment upgrades. The initiatives, which included planting of seasonal flowers, meeting of raised backyard beds, and mulching of playground areas revitalized Zagami’s grounds for residents to get pleasure from. Partnering with organizations like SOME reveals how significant collaboration with communities can assist to sort out native challenges and be sure that all communities take part within the clear power financial system. To study extra about how SOME drives impression by significant neighborhood engagement, please go to SOME’s web site at: SOME.org.
[1] District of Columbia DHCD 2019