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<\/p>\nStrapped securely in his harness, world-class rock climber Alex Honnold shaded his eyes as he assessed the day\u2019s ascent. The 10-foot ladder climb to a gently sloping roof was a far cry from the sheer cliffs he is accustomed to, but this was nonetheless outside his comfort zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely wouldn\u2019t want to be up here without the harness,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThis isn\u2019t at all like climbing. One false step and you\u2019ll trip over something if you\u2019re not paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Honnold was in Sacramento with GRID staff, volunteers, and his very own documentary film crew to install solar on a home in the Colonial Village neighborhood. A long-time GRID supporter, he was eager to help put a spotlight on the energy and environmental issues plaguing his hometown–as well as those working to remedy them.<\/p>\n
As cameras and sound equipment followed him across the roof, Mr. Honnold\u2019s attention never wavered from the GRID staff leading the installation. He listed intently as SolarCorps Construction Fellow Andre Marks explained the significance of the wires being connected to the solar inverters.<\/p>\n
Andre has the Honnold Foundation to thank for the hands-on solar training he received with GRID through the Sacramento Job Corps, before joining GRID\u2019s SolarCorps program. The Foundation has supported GRID\u2019s job training work in the Central and North Valley regions for three years running. Now Andre gets to pay it forward, using the skills he gained to help teach others about solar–from students to community volunteers to professional rock climbers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201c[GRID] is a great place to be, especially for someone my age,\u201d said Andre. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of the things I\u2019m doing. I like helping people; it\u2019s a great feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the day came to a close and the construction crew packed away their tools, Mr. Honnold took off his hard hat and unstrapped his harness. \u201cWe should take these with us,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to the Honnold Foundation for supporting our work to bring renewable energy and solar job training to communities across California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Professional free-climber Alex Honnold helps install solar for a Sacramento family.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,79],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[20,26,73],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-3566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organizational-stories","category-workforce-education","content-type-news","focus-area-job-training","focus-area-sponsors","focus-area-workforce-development"],"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":"\n