Victoria Pacheco
Community Development Officer, GRID Alternatives Inland Empire
For decades GRID Alternatives has worked in regions statewide to ensure California’s environmental justice communities aren’t left behind as the state transitions to a clean energy economy. GRID has most notably made these gains through the state’s DAC-SASH program, where they serve as the program administrator and install no-cost solar on single-family homes in low-income and disadvantaged communities. There are some parts of the state that GRID can’t serve through the program because certain electricity providers do not meet the eligibility criteria. This is the case in Riverside, California, where most disadvantaged and low-income communities are ineligible, including the Eastside, which has a long history of being left out of public investments.
Racial segregation in the 1940s and 50s confined Black and Brown residents living in Riverside to the Eastside neighborhood. While people of color were kept in, funding, resources, and social services were intentionally kept out. The ripples from this era can still be felt today in Eastside where the now predominantly Latino community is exposed to harmful levels of air pollution, have limited access to clean transportation and energy-saving technologies, and have no urban tree canopy to lessen the health impacts of extreme heat.
“These communities are invested in community health and resilience. They deserve not to be overseen and to be part of the collaboration. For their voices to be included and considered as important as any other neighborhood.”
In 20XX, the City of Riverside chose Eastside to be the site of its Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) program. With $XX million from TCC, the city initiated its community-driven plan to address inequities in Eastside and protect residents from worsening environmental and climate hazards. Chosen as one of the program partners, GRID’s Inland Empire office finally had the opportunity to provide Eastside homes with no-cost solar installations.
As with most GRID projects, outreach was the first step in informing residents about their services. Community Development Coordinator, Victoria Pacheco, was tasked with the job and quickly learned that Eastside was unlike other communities she had worked with. Many of its families have lived there for generations and built strong community networks along the way. Victoria noticed that residents relied on each other for information and support, and so a foundation of trust would have to be built if GRID wanted to reach homeowners.
Over the next three years, Victoria and her team built relationships with residents at places like the library and community center by listening to questions, concerns, and curiosities about renewable energy, and responding with consideration and empathy. Eventually, homeowners even began spreading the word themselves, encouraging friends and family to take part in the opportunity to save on utility bills and help their community become more resilient to climate change. There were even participants like 99-year-old [insert name] who opened their homes to those interested in seeing a GRID solar installation and learning about the program.
GRID celebrated the end of the TCC grant term in November 2025 with its 55th Eastside installation. Victoria noted that this collective effort couldn’t have been accomplished with unengaged marketing. It was only possible because her team understood the history of the community, spoke their native language, and took the time to meet residents where they were at.