Solar Batteries To Unhoused Communities
Donation protected
Our Mission:
Help us provide solar energy to our local unhoused communities! 70.7% of those experiencing homelessness own cell phones and keeping them charged is essential for accessing social services and communicating with friends and family. The problem, however, is finding a safe and reliable place to charge them. The current process requires outlets in restaurants or sides of buildings, which is inconvenient, unsafe, and sometimes leads to legal issues. Our goal is to bring a portable, off-grid electricity solution to the unhoused community and expand solar technology access to all.
Solution:
After consulting with several unhoused individuals and social service agencies, we agreed that the most effective and impactful way to connect the unhoused community to electricity was through solar powered battery packs. These batteries hold two phone charges when fully powered, are portable, and allow us to make the greatest possible impact.
About Us/ Inspiration:
Power To The People is a 501c-3 nonprofit organization operated by 10 high school juniors and seniors from four schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. The idea started when founders Ryan Painter and Andrew Huang were eating lunch on a curb in Downtown Berkeley when a cheerful man struck up a conversation. After some small talk, the conversation shifted to his experience struggling with homelessness and his opinions on the most effective changes that would improve his standard of living. He gave three suggestions: bicycles, mass produced small houses, and solar energy. We were compelled by all three, but we were especially inspired by solar. After brainstorming and research, we decided to start Power To The People, collaborating with our classmates to purchase and distribute solar battery packs to unhoused communities in the SF Bay Area.
How You Can Help!
So far, we have raised $600 through bake sales and distributed 16 solar battery packs. We are thrilled with these results, but we believe that we can make a greater impact with more funding. With your help we can distribute even more solar battery packs, which will make the struggle of being unhoused just a little bit easier.
Additional Information
~80% of proceeds will go directly to the purchase of solar panels, ~20% will go to legal fees
~No employees receive compensation
~Cell phone percentage statistic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3786002/
~Please note, all individuals displayed in photos gave consent to be photographed and included
~Our website
Help us provide solar energy to our local unhoused communities! 70.7% of those experiencing homelessness own cell phones and keeping them charged is essential for accessing social services and communicating with friends and family. The problem, however, is finding a safe and reliable place to charge them. The current process requires outlets in restaurants or sides of buildings, which is inconvenient, unsafe, and sometimes leads to legal issues. Our goal is to bring a portable, off-grid electricity solution to the unhoused community and expand solar technology access to all.
Solution:
After consulting with several unhoused individuals and social service agencies, we agreed that the most effective and impactful way to connect the unhoused community to electricity was through solar powered battery packs. These batteries hold two phone charges when fully powered, are portable, and allow us to make the greatest possible impact.
About Us/ Inspiration:
Power To The People is a 501c-3 nonprofit organization operated by 10 high school juniors and seniors from four schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. The idea started when founders Ryan Painter and Andrew Huang were eating lunch on a curb in Downtown Berkeley when a cheerful man struck up a conversation. After some small talk, the conversation shifted to his experience struggling with homelessness and his opinions on the most effective changes that would improve his standard of living. He gave three suggestions: bicycles, mass produced small houses, and solar energy. We were compelled by all three, but we were especially inspired by solar. After brainstorming and research, we decided to start Power To The People, collaborating with our classmates to purchase and distribute solar battery packs to unhoused communities in the SF Bay Area.
How You Can Help!
So far, we have raised $600 through bake sales and distributed 16 solar battery packs. We are thrilled with these results, but we believe that we can make a greater impact with more funding. With your help we can distribute even more solar battery packs, which will make the struggle of being unhoused just a little bit easier.
Additional Information
~80% of proceeds will go directly to the purchase of solar panels, ~20% will go to legal fees
~No employees receive compensation
~Cell phone percentage statistic: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3786002/
~Please note, all individuals displayed in photos gave consent to be photographed and included
~Our website
Co-organizers (6)
Andrew Huang
Organizer
Berkeley, CA
Gloria Lee
Beneficiary
Vitorio Mexas
Co-organizer
Ryan Painter
Co-organizer
Maya Iribarren
Co-organizer
Reid Morris
Co-organizer