After having been forced to relocate after experiencing severe flooding in their home in rural Peru, Kristen and her family are no strangers to disaster. Kristen, a California native, met her husband Luis while living in Peru before moving the family back to Concow to their new \u201cforever home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their home in Concow was surrounded by \u201cbeautiful cedar trees, towering over the house and a meadow. It had deer running around in the front yard. Lots of trees and a big yard. Dad was excited about [the outdoors] to play with his grandkids,\u201d says Kristen.<\/p>\n
Away from the lights and planes, it was \u201ca more woodsy, family environment,\u201d she said. They were so taken with the trees that they even named one of their new twins after them; Cedar.<\/p>\n
When the Camp Fire began, Kristen\u2019s dad had been sick, so the family of six was out visiting him. Their home and everything in it was lost. The family ended up in a small condo in Chico after the fire, and recovery didn\u2019t really begin for their family until they found their new home in Oroville, purchased with the help of the small insurance settlement they received.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where GRID Alternatives North Valley and our Disaster Recovery Initiative in Butte County came into play. We are active members of the Camp Fire Long Term Recovery Group, and support efforts to build affordable housing while integrating clean and resilient energy technology solutions for fire survivors.<\/p>\n
We started working with Kristen\u2019s family in late 2019, nearly a year after the fire. \u201cWith solar, we had lots of questions and anxiety around permanency. With the new fire [the North Complex fire began Aug. 17th, 2020], the same feelings come back…we are scared to own and buy stuff. What if we have to move? What if there is another crisis? What will we be responsible for?\u201d said Kristen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fire has really shown that we are a strong family. We can make the best of it and move forward,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
Getting solar with GRID Alternatives has helped Kristen\u2019s family during their recovery, mostly by alleviating some of Kristen and Luis\u2019s pressure to meet their monthly mortgage payments. Since the fire, Luis, a self-employed mechanic, has had to repurchase his costly equipment, and Kristen has had to restart her career in a new organization. The expenses of starting over, along with last summer’s $400 a month electricity bill on top of the mortgage, were all stressors that impacted their children\u2019s ability to participate in activities that help them socialize. <\/p>\n
Now that they\u2019ve had solar installed and have seen and felt the savings, they can put away money for investing in their new home, visiting family, and \u201clittle things like garden beds to help make life feel better,\u201d Kristen explained. \u201cThe savings go to living, not PG&E.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recovery from a wildfire takes many years and involves many little steps towards rebuilding a sense of normalcy. Receiving the solar system truly allowed Kristen and her family to worry less about affording to live, and spend more time rebuilding together. They were so pleased with their system that they referred a friend to our program who had electricity bills of up to $1300 a month. \u201cIt\u2019s been such a blessing, so we wanted to share,\u201d said Kristen. <\/p>\n
Devastating wildfire and increased fire risk leading to longer and more frequent utility public safety power shutoffs are impacting vulnerable families. Our disaster recovery initiative supports efforts to build affordable housing while integrating clean and resilient energy technology solutions like battery storage for fire survivors to alleviate some of those disparate impacts. We also contribute our organizational capacity and technical expertise to a number of regional efforts related to affordable housing, climate change, and energy resiliency, and disaster recovery.<\/p>\n
You can help support more families like Kristen\u2019s with clean energy benefits that also help the planet by making a donation or becoming a sustaining GRID member today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After having been forced to relocate after experiencing severe flooding in their home in rural Peru, Kristen and her family are no strangers to disaster. Kristen, a California native, met her husband Luis while living in Peru before moving the family back to Concow to their new \u201cforever home.\u201d Their home in Concow was surrounded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[29],"region":[15],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-7021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","content-type-news","focus-area-clients","region-northern-california"],"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