San Francisco's WRAP director, Paul Bodin describes what Mahayla Slackerelli calls an "initimate intertwining" of social justice and environmental justice, "You don’t have the environmental devastation. You don’t have Standing Rock. Solar energy doesn’t create those kinds of catastrophes in people’s lives and in Native people’s communities. They go hand in hand and that's why Environmental justice is a strong part of the Poor Peoples Campaign because we all need to be healthy. Poor and non-poor alike." Mahayla states, "We are all trying to work for a socially and environmentally sound system and solar is a big part of that."
Sometimes when people show up to the KHSU studio for completely separate interviews, they easily find common ground. Nezzie Wade of Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives and Paul Bodin, Director of WRAP- Western Regional Advocacy Project, author of the Homeless Bill of Rights, which is before state Legislatures in California, Colorado and Oregon fill us in on the Poor People’s Campaign Rally for Housing, Social Services, and a Living Wage. Mahayla Slackerelli, Account Services Manager from the Redwood Coast Energy Authority worked with Nezzie and AHAA to develop ideas for lighting and heating systems for homeless people while a student at HSU. Those findings have since been included in a tiny house village proposal to the City of Arcata. Mahayla and colleagues are presenting a Net Energy Metering Workshop about RCEA's solar energy progams on Wednesday, June 13.