In partnership with the Georgia Hispanic Construction Association and the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, Gwinnett Housing Corporation was awarded a $200,000  Drawdown Georgia Climate Solutions and Equity grant to develop a comprehensive federal investment and workforce development plan to benefit disadvantaged communities in one of the most diverse and under-resourced parts of Gwinnett County. The partnership, which is collaborating with State Representative Marvin Lim, will ultimately create a roadmap to invest federal funds in energy-insecure communities that will expand access to weatherization and build energy efficiency and clean energy minority job pipelines. In addition, the partners will assess roadblocks to minority business enterprise participation in energy efficiency services and work with local contractors to provide training and resources for BIPOC contractors.

Funding partners for the initiative include the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation and its Dobbs Fund, The Wilbur & Hilda Glenn Family Foundation, The Kendeda Fund, The Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s NextGen Committee, and The Sapelo Foundation.

For residents of unincorporated Norcross:

As part of this work, the partnership is engaging all 21,980 households in this community, both to solicit feedback on their clean energy needs as well as to refer them to resources, including GHC’s Healthy Homes and Older Adults Home Modification programs, as well as, for residents in the construction industry, to GHCA for training and workforce opportunities on clean energy. Through trained door-to-door canvassers, including those recruited from the community, we are soliciting feedback through a 30-question survey administered on site (available below), as well as providing informational materials to each door (also available below).

Click here for the survey (for residents only, one-per-household)

Other informational materials 

For contractors and businesses:

As part of this grant, the partnership is simultaneously working towards the development of a comprehensive federal investment and workforce development plan to benefit disadvantaged communities in one of the most diverse and under-resourced parts of Gwinnett County

As a part of this process, we are actively seeking feedback from businesses and contractors who are interested in receiving training and other opportunities to supply services in the areas of weatherization improvements and water efficiency. Your feedback on our weatherization and energy efficiency survey will provide valuable insight that will be used as part of the plan's development.

Please assist us in this endeavor by completing the survey below: Weatherization & Energy Efficiency Survey


Media

Click here to listen to GHC's interview on this initiative with WABE's Rose Scott
Click here for the Drawdown blog on our project