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D8. During and after <br />the project, what will <br />your continued <br />engagement with the <br />impacted community <br />be? (200 word limit) <br />From the outset, SolarEquity has prioritized respectful, informed <br />engagement with the Northside community. Before proposing the project, <br />our team took the Jackson Center’s audio tour to understand the <br />neighborhood’s history and the role St. Joseph’s CME Church plays within <br />it. This context guided our planning and deepened our commitment to <br />culturally responsive development. Throughout this project, we will maintain <br />active dialogue with the church and broader community through follow-up <br />meetings, interviews, and continued involvement in church services and <br />events. W e also aim to amplify the neighborhood’s story, especially the <br />impact of gentrification, within the broader UNC Chapel Hill student body. <br />By fostering awareness, we hope to cultivate more intentional relationships <br />between students and long-term residents. <br />After installation, SolarEquity will remain involved, providing ongoing <br />support, system monitoring, and educational outreach. W e will also <br />collaborate with the Jackson Center to track the project’s influence on <br />residential solar adoption and energy awareness. Long-term, we intend to <br />reinvest any future funding from solar tax credits back into Northside <br />through additional energy equity projects. Our goal is to ensure the <br />church’s solar system is not just a technical success, but a catalyst for <br />sustained community resilience. <br />D9. Please describe <br />any other aspect of <br />your project that is <br />relevant to Social <br />Justice, <br />Environmental <br />Justice and Racial <br />Equity. (200 word <br />limit) <br />Like many houses of worship across the US, St. Joseph’s CME Church <br />functions as far more than a spiritual space; it is a cultural anchor, <br />community center, and symbol of resilience for the historically Black <br />Northside Neighborhood. Its energy costs, however, are funded directly by <br />congregants, many of whom are low-to moderate-income, placing a <br />disproportionate financial burden on a community already facing <br />displacement and housing instability. <br />Installing solar at the church is a form of environmental justice: it brings <br />clean energy to a population historically excluded from its benefits. <br />Nationally, solar adoption is concentrated in affluent, white communities. <br />This project challenges that trend by bringing visible, community-owned <br />renewable energy to a neighborhood of color. The installation may also <br />encourage broader residential solar adoption. Studies show that non- <br />residential systems like churches can catalyze uptake in nearby homes. St. <br />Joseph’s solar array will serve as both a financial relief and a beacon of <br />local climate leadership, demonstrating that energy equity and racial equity <br />must go hand in hand. <br />Criterion 2 - Emissions Reduced This criterion has a maximum score of 4 <br />points (out of a total of 26 points). Please see the Grant Project website <br />for estimation tools and the Background and Information document for <br />information about technical assistance. Applicants are encouraged to ask <br />for clarification and technical assistance as early as possible and no later <br />than the posted deadline for questions. <br />D10a. Does your <br />project save on <br />electricity (solar <br />projects should say <br />"yes" to this)? <br />Yes <br />Docusign Envelope ID: F42389BC-2D83-4E00-BC11-D720BFF48873