Last year, a major power outage in Cleveland left some of our neighbors without electricity for nearly a week. Families in our community—especially those with health conditions—faced serious challenges, including food spoilage, lack of access to medication, and no way to communicate. That experience sparked an urgent question in our group: What do we need to be more prepared? Every member agreed—we needed a long-term, community-powered solution.

Thrive from the Ground Up, a program of Speak Into the Light, is more than just a solar project—it’s a year-round sustainability and self-reliance initiative. We focus on small-space gardening, clean energy, food security, and community preparedness. As part of this work, we are building a Solar Resilience Shed to support families in our neighborhood during emergencies and outages. The shed will feature rooftop solar panels, battery storage, and mobile power dollies that provide off-grid electricity for critical needs like refrigerating medications and charging phones, tablets, and emergency devices.

This project is being built by committed community members and homeowners in the Hough neighborhood (top half of Linwood), who meet monthly to grow, learn, and support one another. We've already funded and installed the shed, inverters, and wiring. With your support, we’ll complete the system by adding solar panels and additional batteries, ensuring that our neighbors are never left without power when they need it most.