How an Indiana Church Serves Its Community Through Clean Energy and Local Food | Article

When Progressive Community Church Pastor Curtis Whittaker looks out his church window in Gary, Indiana, he sees a blighted and economically distressed community with only one other occupied house on the block. The rest of the houses are boarded up, empty, or at risk of collapsing due to lack of maintenance. With the community facing a myriad of economic and environmental challenges, from high energy burdens to legacy pollution from old steel mills, Pastor Whittaker wanted to do more than lead a service. Since 2011, he has been working to increase community energy and food independence by installing solar panels on his church, helping community members apply for energy efficiency grants for their homes, and growing local produce in a community garden.

Predominantly Black communities like Gary and, specifically, the Emerson neighborhood where the church is located, tend to be disproportionately impacted by air and water pollution from fossil fuel industries. This greatly impacts the health of their residents, particularly the vulnerable, the elderly, and the young. According to the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, Emerson is environmentally and economically disadvantaged in six of the eight categories considered. In particular, it suffers from high energy burdens, close proximity to legacy pollution facilities, and high concentrations of wastewater discharge. Residents of the Emerson neighborhood have a median household income of $13,000 a year, well below the $31,000 level for Gary as a whole and even further below the $67,500 median income nationwide.

A few blocks from the church, on the shores of Lake Michigan, sits the U.S. Steel Gary Works facility. It is one of the three most polluting mills in the country. The steel plant has been emitting a mix of lead, hydrochloric acid, and hundreds of tons of other toxins into the sky over the neighborhood for generations. When these pollutants land on the ground, they mix with the soil and water table, contaminating them in the process and leading to health problems for people nearby. Among many health issues, Emerson residents particularly suffer from high levels of asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Other sources of pollution surrounding the Emerson neighborhood are contributing to these harmful health impacts, including refineries, highways, and other steel mills.

Sharing the light of energy efficiency

In addition to the environmental threats from pollution, the Emerson community also suffers from high energy burdens—meaning households dedicate large portions of their income to pay for electricity and heating. Families pay up to 30 percent of their budget for energy and heating, mainly due to a lack of structural maintenance, weatherization, and insulation measures in their homes that would keep them from leaking heated or cooled air.

Pastor Whittaker and community members pose for a photo in front of the Progressive Community Church solar panels

Pastor Whittaker (center) with community members next to the church's solar panels. Photo Credit: Pastor Whittaker

To start addressing these challenges, Pastor Whittaker installed energy efficiency measures and solar panels in his church to reduce energy costs and be a model of good environmental stewardship. He also helped his fellow congregation members install efficiency measures in their homes. The Progressive Community Church worked with Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light (IPL) to apply for the Community Energy Challenge Grant Program offered by the Indiana Office of Energy Development to cover 50 percent of the installation costs. Thanks to the resulting $10,000 grant and matching funds, in 2016, the church installed 30 rooftop solar panels with a total energy capacity of 7.6 kilowatts. Solar energy generated by these panels helps offset most, if not all, of the fossil fuel-powered electricity coming from the church’s energy provider, North Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO). NIPSCO's energy mix is mainly composed of fossil-generated power, as 58 percent of its energy comes from coal power plants and 25 percent is sourced from natural gas plants. Only 17 percent is generated from renewable energy sources.

“I had the idea of a solar farm in our church, but I did not know where to turn to and where I could get more information to install solar panels,” said Pastor Whittaker. “I understood the financial benefits of solar energy for our church, ministry, and community. I contacted pastors in Indiana who had installed rooftop solar panels and learned about their installation experience.”

Before the solar panels went up, the church installed energy efficiency upgrades throughout the facility to reduce energy usage and replaced the roof. By installing remotely controlled thermostats, adding attic insulation, and switching all lighting systems to efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), the church significantly reduced its monthly power consumption. That meant the church could install fewer solar panels to meet its needs.

Thanks to both the efficiency measures and the electricity generated by the solar panels, the church’s monthly electric bills dropped to zero in the first year of operating the solar array. During the sunniest months of the year (i.e., June, July, and August), the church’s solar panels produce more energy than is used. Because the church participates in the NIPSCO net-metering program, the surplus energy production during the summer months is carried over month-to-month as a utility credit. In the first year after the solar panels were installed, the extra summer energy production helped balance out lower electricity output during the winter. The church is net zero for eleven months of the year.

The church received the EPA ENERGY STAR® Certification for Congregations once the upgrades were installed. When benchmarking the facility’s energy usage using EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, the church received a 90 percent rating, meaning its energy performance is better than most commercial buildings. With volunteer support, the church tracks and reports quarterly on its energy usage.

Wanting to share the benefits of energy efficiency with the community, the church worked with one-quarter of all community members to perform similar energy efficiency projects in their homes. “We wanted the Emerson community to also benefit from our energy efficiency work and journey,” said Pastor Whittaker. “We helped several church members apply for the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program to reduce their energy bills by adding insulation to the attic and crawlspaces. Seven of them received funds for weatherization, which they would not be able to afford without the grant assistance, which helps them lower their energy burden.”

Growing Food to Replenish the Air and Soil

With the savings resulting from the energy efficiency projects and solar panel installation, the church created an urban farm to offer fresh food and produce to residents in an area that has limited access to healthy food. Working with the City of Gary and other community partners, Pastor Whittaker transformed nine unoccupied plots of land and houses behind the church into a farm that generates 15,000 pounds of edible food annually. Since the first stones for the farm were laid 10 years ago, it has expanded to include four hoop houses (or high tunnels, which shelter crops), several pens and chicken coops, 10 beehives, and orchards producing peaches, pears, plums, and apples. Energy generated from the solar panels helps heat the pens and coops during the winter months and powers the water pumps that irrigate the hoop houses. Thanks to the solar panels, the farm can produce food for nine months of the year.

Pastor Curtis continues to be deeply involved with the farm work. He is the executive director of F.A.I.T.H. Farm (Families Anchored in Total Harmony), a non-profit organization composed of two full-time staff and community volunteers who work to take care of the urban farm. Most of the produce is sold to the community through a market stand, with a small portion given to volunteers. The church also operates a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program where residents can buy food at discounted prices if they volunteer their time at the farm. Local farmers have stands to sell their food to the community. With these efforts, the F.A.I.T.H. Farm team is helping to address food insecurity in the community, foster local economic growth, and educate residents about farming practices.

“Growing up in this neighborhood, I saw the effects on the community of the large steel refinery up the street,” said Pastor Whittaker. “The pollution from the industry has contaminated our neighborhood's air, water, and soil. Every time we want to plant new crops, we need to check the soil for possible contamination. The polluted air is making people sick, but we are working to plant more trees to improve the air quality in our community.”

Across the street, the church is slowly building an urban park that would offer multiple benefits to community residents. As climate change continues to drive up temperatures, communities of color, like the Emerson neighborhood, are increasingly affected by heat stress resulting from the overabundance of heat-absorbing cement and asphalt and lack of cooling park space. Neighborhoods with fewer trees and lots of pavement tend to be 10 degrees hotter than surrounding areas. To increase tree cover, the church created a five-parcel park with trails, benches, and trees native to Indiana for residents to enjoy. Increasing the tree canopy also helps capture stormwater runoff and replenish groundwater. The park also attracts pollinators, helping the beehives thrive and produce honey for the community.

According to Pastor Whittaker, “We lost this intersection between nature and people, and so we are trying to rebalance the relationship between God, nature, and people by creating a park in a blighted community to offer the opportunity for residents to enjoy trees and fresh air.”

Looking Ahead

Pastor Whittaker and the Progressive Community Church plan to continue expanding the park to 10 parcels, grow the urban farm into a hub for healthy food to local schools, and increase its community offerings. One such offering could be the creation of an environmental justice center across the street from the church, where an abandoned school now stands. Opened in 1909, the Emerson Elementary and High School of Arts was a highly regarded education center teaching the ethos and philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson. The school, which closed in 2009, sits on a nine-acre parcel of land, which is ideal for a ground-mounted solar array. The solar energy from such an array could provide more power to the community and the future environmental justice center.

Working with the local community and university, the environmental justice center would offer classes on the importance of clean air, soil, and water. The center would also provide space to hold conversations on advocacy, community growth, and economic development.

“In the Emerson Community, through the Progressive Community Church, we are pursuing a social experiment where we help each other become more self-sufficient” said Pastor Whittaker. “We do sustainability work by installing solar panels, weatherizing homes, growing fresh produce, and investing in the community. But we want to do so much more. We want to build affordable housing for the elderly, create economic opportunities for the community, and rehabilitate homes in the neighborhood.”

Read all of our resources on energy efficiency for nonprofits.

Author: Miguel Yañez-Barnuevo