South Sacramento Christian Center, a California church known for feeding neighbors, preventing violence, and improving local spaces, has now taken on another role in its community.<\/p>\n
As Yale Climate Connections<\/a> reports, the church is now helping make electric driving more practical in an area with limited charging access.<\/p>\n Here’s what to know<\/p>\n Because charging stations are scarce in South Sacramento, residents may be less inclined to buy an electric vehicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n But now, through a partnership with a green jobs training program, the church has turned this need into EV infrastructure by having students from underserved areas install chargers in its parking lot.<\/p>\n The pastor at the South Sacramento Christian Center, Les Simmons, explained<\/a> to YCC that “We are, at the core of our faith, called to be stewards of this Earth\u2026 And part of being a good steward is climate justice.”<\/p>\n Driving EVs is great for both the climate and public health, as it reduces nearby pollution that contributes to asthma attacks and associated ER visits. Several studies<\/a> in peer-reviewed journals have found this to be the case.<\/p>\n Simmons added<\/a> that having students install the EV chargers has been a wonderful experience, stating, “We have been really excited about the opportunity to serve our community in this way.”<\/p>\n The students, who came from nearby underserved areas, were paid for their time while building skills that could support future EV-related careers. As Simmons told YCC, “To see the pride and joy on their faces to say\u2026 ‘Look what we were a part of and the skill sets we learned.’ For me, it was deeply rewarding.”<\/p>\n Federal sources and foundations helped make the program possible.<\/p>\n Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n The Sacramento project reflects two broader trends: bringing EV charging to places that have long lacked it and opening doors to clean-energy jobs. Across the country, schools, churches, companies, and developers are working on both fronts, building the infrastructure and workforce that can make electric transportation more realistic for more communities.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Philadelphia, a church launched an innovative community solar project<\/a> to lower energy burdens.<\/p>\n \u2022 At Hope College, students are testing solar-powered curbside chargers<\/a> that could reshape city charging.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Santa Ana, Rove opened a community-focused charging center<\/a> designed to feel welcoming.<\/p>\n Seen alongside projects like these, the South Sacramento effort looks like part of a much bigger shift. EV charging can bring investment, improve access, and create training opportunities, which helps explain why this church-led project matters beyond one neighborhood.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Sacramento Christian Center, a California church known for feeding neighbors, preventing violence, and improving local spaces, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,182471,9,8,128547,31474,157244,182474,6508,3183,182472,182473],"class_list":["post-463383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-church","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-charging-stations","tag-electric-vehicle","tag-ev-infrastructure","tag-les-simmons","tag-south-sacramento","tag-students","tag-underserved-areas","tag-ycc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}