Our Future, a Cedar Rapids-based nonprofit organization, has employed community businesses and resources to build a “resiliency hub” at the Wellington Heights Community Church in Cedar Rapids.
The hub is designed to provide backup power and other resources during power disruptions following severe weather events, utilizing an eight-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system and 10-kilowatt-hour battery energy storage system to improve the resilience of the church and the neighborhood it serves.
“This resiliency hub will be a place where people can go during power outages to charge communication devices, access food, store medicines in the community fridge and get information and assistance,” Our Future chairperson Darrow Center said. “The solar and battery energy storage system is critical to providing a reliable electricity source, more reliable than a fuel-burning generator that will fail when fuel supply is unavailable or unaffordable. Our community has seen its fair share of severe weather events in the past few years, and we continuously see people in disadvantaged neighborhoods struggle to recover from these events. This hub will offer another layer of support to the neighborhood for a stronger, faster recovery.”
The Wellington Heights Community Church, at 1600 Fourth Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids, is a multicultural community focused on worship and neighborhood development. The church also hosts a food bank for neighbors.
The resiliency hub project was the culmination of several organizations coming together to build a stronger future for our community:
- NextEra Energy Resources donated the panels and equipment used in this project to Kirkwood Community College and trained students to evaluate and repair panels. The company also provided a monetary donation and expertise to guide the project implementation.
- Eagle Point Solar donated their services to design and install the system and fulfill the permitting process.
- Van Meter Inc. and King’s Material Inc. donated materials.
- Kirkwood Community College students and staff donated their time to help install the panels and learned from the licensed electricians who connected the system.
Our Future provided funding from small donations and donated time helping communication between the partners.
“We’re excited to support the Wellington Heights neighborhood and provide a learning opportunity for the community and students at Kirkwood Community College by using the same clean energy technology we install on our solar energy projects across Iowa,” said NextEra Energy Resources project director Kimberly Dickey. “This hub brought a wide variety of community organizations together to create something of which we can all be proud.”
“Our ultimate hope is that this is just the beginning, and more organizations will come together to build more resiliency hubs throughout our community,” Ms. Center added.
Our Future is a paid fellowship program that equips emerging leaders with the tools to be valued and empowered advocates for justice, sustainability and equity.
The nonprofit agency invests in those who face social and economic barriers to service and advocacy work by giving them resources, a livable wage, professional mentorship and connections to local organizations.
