Impact Spotlight
Increasing food security for 9,900 people
8 kW solar installation to power a community center and grocery store
Revitalizing and repurposing a previously environmentally damaged zone for a community resource hub
About
As the coal industry automates and downsizes, Charleston, West Virginia’s West Side has lost 45% of its population. On the West Side, 31% of the buildings are vacant, and amidst the growing urban decay, nearly half of children live in poverty – more than double the national average.
Keep Your Faith Corporation (KYFC) was formed by and for Charlestonians to improve workforce development opportunities for residents in the midst of a growing job crisis. Based in a formerly vacant brownfield, KYFC’s community hub will provide food security, workforce development, and education opportunities for Charleston natives.
“KYFC is a powerful example of how local solutions that use renewable energy can transition and grow the economy of historically coal-reliant places so that both communities and their environment can thrive.”
HF Partnership
In partnership with Coalfield Development, a previous Honnold Foundation grantee Partner, HF is working with Keep Your Faith Corp to solarize their community hub, revitalizing a former brownfield space along the way. Employing 20 local coal-impacted solar trainees, the project will help the newly launched community hub save funds so they can reallocate them toward workforce development, education, and food access programs. When complete, this project will provide an example of how coal communities can still build on their legacy of energy production through shifting to renewables.
In the News
