Another trip around the sun

On New Year’s Eve, we encapsulated the past year in a 15-thread Twitter communique. Here’s a summary:

‘tis the end of the year and thus time to recollect our 2019 trip around the sun. We are extremely grateful to our collective community for its support in a record-setting Repower year. A few highlights to share …

• In 2019 we helped 125+ Yolo County homeowners go solar. In aggregate, our 2019 solar clients will save $8.1 million in utility costs and retire 19,101 metric tons of CO2 (over the next 25 years), the equivalent of taking 4,055 cars off the road or planning 315,841 trees. Very cool.

• Solar is now. Primary motivations to go solar are uncertainty about (and mistrust in) PG&E, a desire to reduce and hedge utility costs, and strong ideals about confronting climate change (e.g., “Doing my part.”). A smart, sustainable investment.

• Rewarding projects we orchestrated this year included the Marriott Residence Inn Davis, Davis ACE Hardware, Davis Community Church, Hyatt Place Vacaville, Millennium Child Development Center Dixon, Yolo Food Bank, Lincoln40, Lutheran Church of the Incarnation Davis, and myriad advisory projects for First Northern Bank.

• Kudos to our comrades Valley Clean Energy for fighting the good fight. In particular, thank you to VCE for amending their solar net-metering program, per our recommendations, to make it viable for Yolo County solar owners. The future is bright for VCE.

• Many thanks to THE GREAT Chris Granger and our fellow board members and volunteers at the Cool Davis Foundation, the little engine that CAN make a difference in reducing our community’s carbon footprint. Cool Davis rocks.

• Great appreciation to fellow Davis Community Meals and Housing board members and Paul’s Place capital campaign colleagues for their inspiring + tireless work to help less fortunate members of our community. Paul’s Place is happening.

• To fellow volunteers and capital campaign members who propelled Yolo Food Bank’s beyond successful ($7 million) capital campaign to build and open a new distribution center … wow! You did it. And, thanks too for entrusting Repower to solarize the new facility.

• This is great fun: When homeowners go solar, we donate $500 to their favorite Yolo County nonprofit organization. We call this YoloShines. On behalf of Repower homeowners, we supported 37 organizations this year; over the past week alone, we donated $40,500 to local causes. 2019 YoloShines beneficiaries: Citizens Who Care, City of Davis Housing Trust Fund, CommuniCare Health Centers, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cool Davis Foundation, Cub Scout Pack 111, Davis Chapter of Project Linus, Davis Community Meals & Housing, Davis Little League, Davis Media Access, Davis Schools Foundation, Empower Yolo, Esperanza Rising Foundation, Family Hope Network, UC Davis Guardian Scholars Program, NorCal Trykers, Interfaith Rotating Winter Shelter, iHouse Davis, Norcal GSP Rescue, Patwin School PTA, Purebreds Plus Cat Rescue, Rivendell Nursery School, Robert E Willett Elementary School, Rotts of Friends, STEAC, Suicide Prevention Yolo County, Paul’s Place, Sutter Davis Hospital Foundation, Davis Phoenix Coalition, University Covenant Church, Yolo Food Bank, Yolo CASA, Yolo SPCA, Yolo Crisis Nursery, Yolo Interfaith Immigration Network and Yolo Land Trust. What a year, with great thanks to Repower homeowners for their support of our community.

We remain humbled, thrive on the opportunity to earn trust, to enrich full and meaningful lives. Solar simpletons, yes, but beyond helping neighbors save money and reduce their carbon footprints, our commitment to strengthen our community is galvanized by the day. Happy 2020.

YoloShines: Yolo Crisis Nursery

As we’ve shared, every time a homeowner goes solar we donate $500 to the local nonprofit of their choice. We call this program “YoloShines,” in great part because we believe nonprofit organizations are the underlying fabric of our community — they make it shine! — and, thereby, we have a responsibility to support such groups.

Over the past year, seven Repower homeowners have selected Yolo Crisis Nursery (YCN) for their YoloShines gift; hence, we had the fortune of donating $3,500 to YCN in 2017. In an effort to shine a light on YCN and engage the community to join us in our support, here’s a quick profile of the organization.

First, a story that amplifies the impact of YCN:

About one year ago, a distraught young mom named Jess first came the Yolo Crisis Nursery.  After the birth of Jess’s second child she was home alone with her newborn and her toddler, and realized she was having trouble caring for them both by herself.  Jess’s decision to call the Nursery probably saved her baby’s life.

Over the phone, YCN staff invited Jess to bring both children to the Nursery, where we could care for them at no cost and give her a much-needed break.  Once the family arrived, the situation took a dramatic turn.  Executive Director Heather Sleuter looked at the baby and saw that he was far too listless.  She asked when he had last been fed.  Jess said she could not remember.

Heather directed one of our caregivers to comfort and care for the toddler and then drove both the baby and Jess to the hospital. 

The emergency room staff attended to the child, successfully treating him for severe dehydration.  The doctor told us the baby had come within hours of death.  Meanwhile, Jess received the medical attention she needed.  County authorities made arrangements for both children to move into temporary foster care.

While county officials and Jess worked toward family reunification, her health stabilized and the children eventually returned home.  The family was then enrolled in YCN’s Family Life Skills Program.  A Nursery staff member visited the family’s home for two hours a week for 12 weeks for hands-on parenting education.  Families who complete our program significantly increase the likelihood that they will remain together,’

Today, a year later, this family is doing well.  Jess is working and the children are happily enrolled in day care and preschool.

Wow. Thanks to Cam Stoufer with YCN for sharing the story of lives saved and changed.

All organizations have a purpose … Why does Yolo Crisis Nursery exist? The mission of the Yolo Crisis Nursery is to provide early intervention services to nurture healthy and resilient children, strengthen parents and preserve families. Our vision is that every child in Yolo County grows up in a safe, loving and stable home. The Nursery’s overarching goal is to prevent child abuse and neglect among young vulnerable children by partnering emergency childcare with wrap-around services for families in trauma or crisis. In doing so we keep children safe and families whole in our community.

In 2017, Yolo Crisis Nursery’s accomplishments included:

• Families receiving childcare services who did not become clients of CPS: 99%
• Families linked to case management counseling and community resources: 267
• Families completing referral to wrap-around services: 98%
• Children served and childcare slots provided: 178 (individual count - up 45% over previous year) and 2,342

Very significantly, 98% of the families the Nursery serves do not become clients of Child Protective Services.

Now, our punchline ... here’s how you can help (monetarily, personally, professionally): Yolo Crisis Nursery is a 501c3 nonprofit organization (Tax ID #47-1006055) which welcomes support from individuals, businesses, foundations, service and faith-based organizations in our community.  The Nursery provides care packages to our families and in-kind support is always welcome in the form of diapers, formula, clothes toys and other items for children.  Volunteer service projects occur throughout the year to maintain and enhance the Nursery facility for our children and families.  Volunteer positions are available annually on the Board of Directors and ongoing as members of the Friends of the Yolo Crisis Nursery, the fundraising and advocacy auxiliary of the Nursery.  Lastly, the community is invited to participate in the annual Krustaceans for Kids Crab Feed to support the Nursery’s programs.  This year the Crab Feed will be held on Saturday, March 24 at the Woodland Community and Senior Center from 6:00 to 9:00 pm.  Tickets and sponsorships are on sale now.  More information is available at: www.yolocrisisnursery.org.

Please join us in supporting Yolo Crisis Nursery, a shining light in our community.

A great day, leading up to the Big Day of Giving

We have the fortune of helping homeowners go solar. In so doing, there are three particularly gratifying outcomes: Saving homeowners money, improving the environment (through clean energy), and giving back to our community.

Last Wednesday was a great day: We mailed ten $500 checks — $5,000 in total — to local causes, including Yolo Food Bank, Davis Schools Foundation, River City Rowing Club, Yolo Crisis Nursery, Progress Ranch, Davis High Girls Water Polo, and Make it Happen Yolo County.

The donations were made on behalf of RepowerYolo homeowners through our YoloShines program, aka our 2016 Big Year of Giving. Homeowners are not just repowering their homes and benefiting our planet, they’re also repowering our community. For this we are extremely grateful.

Leading up to the May 3 Big Day of Giving, we will share a bit about these tremendous Yolo nonprofits. In so doing, we invite you to join us in supporting the organizations and strengthening the fabric of our community. When you do so, a great day will be yours too!

YoloShines: Repowering community organizations

When we conceived RepowerYolo, we made two conscious commitments:

1. We will not solicit homeowners. No advertising, cold calls, direct mail or commission sales people.

2. We will reinvest in and support local nonprofit organizations; in other words (excuse the trite phase), repower our community.

The obvious residue of not knocking on doors, cold-calling homeowners, or peppering mail boxes with sales collateral is that we will sell less solar. We can live with that, because we strongly believe markets are conversations and nobody likes to be solicited (sans their permission). And, by eliminating sales/marketing/advertising costs, we significantly reduce the cost of going solar for friends and neighbors.

Furthermore, many an eye has been rolled at our community fundraising efforts: Why are you donating large amounts of money to nonprofits (when you could/should be pocketing the money to send your kids to college)? In simple terms, we believe RepowerYolo is a community program and our commitment to — and support of — local nonprofit organizations is a community dividend.

This community dividend is growing. To date, we have donated upwards of $23,000 to more than 25 local causes on behalf of RepowerYolo homeowners. And, in 2016, we created YoloShines: Every time a homeowner goes solar, we donate $500 in their name to their favorite Yolo County nonprofit.

The first four recipients of YoloShines donations in 2016 are Progress Ranch, Yolo Crisis Nursery, Davis Schools Foundation, and River City Rowing Club. 2016 is off to a great start … the future is bright for both homeowners who go solar and nonprofit organizations that stitch the fabric of our community.