Provide 10 Solar Heaters to Native Families

Wow! So far, generous donors to this project have raised enough money to build 7 solar air heaters. Thank you! When this campaign is complete, we will distribute these heaters in an exciting new way. We have just initiated a new means for distributing our solar air heaters through our new website, www.solarwarriors.org. Any Native American can apply to receive a solar air heater as long as they live near one of our trained technicians. 

Through this application process, not only can we distribute solar air heaters across a broader geographic range to reach more people, but we can also provide work opportunities for graduates from the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCREC). We currently have former students, trained in the installation of solar air heaters, at 12 different reservations across the West and Great Plains. Now, each heater we install through this application process helps us keep these individuals employed in the renewable energy industry.

This part of our program is brand new, and we are currently working with Ariel Frazier, a graduate from RCREC and a certified Solar Air Heater Technician, to install a new heater for an online applicant. She is installing this heater for Stottin Newbrough on the Cheyenne River Reservation, where he supports a household of 4 people on a salary of $5,000-$15,000 per year, depending on the firefighting season.

From Stottin Newbrough:

Propane is expensive…so I have to cut fire wood. Our woodstove is located in the basement, so it hardly heats the whole house.

We can't thank you enough for your generosity! Native American families are in great need of heat during the cold months of the year. As we make plans for 2014, please consider continuing your support of this project. Happy holidays!

Links:

• New Solar Warriors website

After completing a Solar Air Heater Training with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, we were able to donate five solar heaters to a group of our students who want to start their own renewable energy company in Montana. Kale Means, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, assumed responsibility for the heaters and, two weeks ago, we received these pictures of him installing a heater for Pam Robinson and her family on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

It is great to see our students taking their own initiative to spread clean energy throughout Indian Country. We also hope that these heaters help Kale develop a reputation as a source of renewable energy in his community, just as Henry Red Cloud has done on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Recently, Kale also attended our Native American Green Business Development Training and he is taking the next steps toward launching his own renewable energy company. This training is something that we have been working towards for the last year. While the training is the continuation of a process we started in 2008 – giving Native American students the technical skills they need to enter the green job market – it is only the first step in our new Green Business Development Program. The next will be awarding one “Start-Up Assistance Scholarship” to the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center student with the best application, which means we think he or she will have the best chance of succeeding in his or her environmental social enterprise. The fact that this training is only the start of us helping more Native Americans create livelihoods that benefit Mother Earth made this week extremely special for me.

Thank you for your generosity and support of renewable energy on tribal lands! We could not do this work without friends like you. We love sharing how your donations have changed lives. Was-te!