William Spivey
Leader-In-Field-Training, Antioch
The first week of Green House Calls (GHCs) in Antioch was met with high expectations and some unanticipated obstacles. There were a few rocky starts during the check-out and check-in of tools and measures during our first few Green House Calls; however, these issues were quickly resolved after a careful review of the GHC check-in and check-out procedures with the Energy Specialists. They were able to find a groove to their GHCs after Wednesday. Also amidst learning from their missteps, they were able to forge stronger relationships with one another by practicing their elevator pitches and canvassing in the communities.
I also collaborated with the site and outreach managers to come up with new ideas for establishing CYES as a trusted program for the local community, since it is our first year in Antioch! The outreach manager and I attended the local Farmer’s Market on Sunday to promote CYES and signed up a handful of residents right on the spot! All in all, despite a few hiccups, the Antioch site was able to catch fire later in the week and is hoping to maintain this rhythm in the upcoming weeks.
Sophie Barich
Leader-In-Field-Training, Marin County
Up in Marin, the Energy Specialists began their first week of Green House Calls. This week was especially exciting for the Marin site because we serviced 45 homes in only 3 days. This brings our running total to 58 homes! They even installed Lawrence Berkeley National Lab meters in a total of 11 homes. Our site also did some outreach at the local farmers’ market and street festival on 4th Street in San Rafael. The community responded very well and we received a number of on the spot sign ups for appointments the following Tuesday (as well as some general sign ups). Our team has great aptitude when it comes to canvassing and reaching hard to target populations. We have been using our multilingual Energy Specialists to help to expand our range of homes. Overall we have had a great start to our program. We have big goals, but we have a great team that is ready to reach the goals.
