{"id":3458,"date":"2016-08-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/an-unsung-hero\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:03:55","slug":"an-unsung-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/an-unsung-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unsung Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time and again we hear stories of the people we serve becoming passionate climate advocates. Cathlean Ramsey is one of them. She recently got solar with GRID and has since been encouraging her neighbors (like this one<\/a>) to check out our program.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bloom where you are planted,\u201d Cathlean said as we installed on her home in the Skyline Neighborhood of San Diego. That philosophy, which underpins her approach to community organizing, has seen her through some of the tougher times in life.<\/p>\n

A National Honor student from modest means, Cathlean joined the US Navy in high school; in fact, she didn\u2019t just join the Navy, she aced it! In 1982 she beat out 3000 of her colleagues to win the coveted Sailor of the Year Award. But when she decided to start a family, she had to take a break from active service. Then her marriage came to an unexpected and abrupt end, and she found herself a single mother of three with no significant means of income.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe struggled,\u201d she says. \u201cI worked three jobs just to try and make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things got even tougher when she moved into the Skyline neighborhood, an area of San Diego with high rates of gang activity. \u201cI used to be mean to gang members, always getting at them,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was my son that told me \u2018Mother, if you keep being mean to them they will just take you out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Her son\u2019s comments resonated with her — instead of bemoaning, she began to seek real solutions to her neighborhood\u2019s divides. She started asking gang members their names, she got to know them. \u201cI wanted to find out why they were doing what they were doing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In the mid-nineties her community-building approach helped her win a $50,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation. She got to work, purchasing her first computer and organizing an enormous block party. She began making and distributing community newsletters, and even arranged a sit-down dinner with gang-members and other community members to try and reach some common ground. \u201cCrime rates in my neighborhood dropped dramatically,\u201d Cathlean noted. \u201cI even began working with the police and sharing my methods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, the solar panels GRID installed have inspired her to take on a new challenge – spreading solar. \u201cI used to think solar panels were kind of ugly, but I\u2019ve changed my mind,\u201d she chuckled as she snapped photos of the activity on her roof. \u201cI worked out that these should bring my bills down to basically nothing! My son also has solar and he is paying about $4 a month.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re grateful to be able to serve so many people like Cathlean, who are true leaders in their communities, and see them pay it forward to their neighbors. Click here to see more pictures from her install<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cathlean Ramsey’s tireless activism has significantly diminished crime rates in the Skyline Neighborhood, one of San Diego’s most underserved communities.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,78],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[29,31,72],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-3458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-environment","category-equity-community","content-type-news","focus-area-clients","focus-area-environmental-justice","focus-area-solar-storage-installations"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"\nAn Unsung Hero - 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