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

The Progressive Community Church in Gary, Indiana, has implemented a multifaceted sustainability strategy to combat high energy burdens and industrial pollution in the Emerson neighborhood. By installing a 7.6 kW solar array and energy efficiency upgrades, the church achieved net-zero electricity for eleven months of the year and assisted community members in accessing weatherization grants. Additionally, the church established the F.A.I.T.H. Farm, producing 15,000 pounds of food annually, and is developing an urban park to mitigate heat stress and improve air quality.

• The Emerson neighborhood in Gary, Indiana, faces severe environmental and economic challenges, including high energy burdens where families spend up to 30 percent of their budget on energy and heating, and pollution from the U.S. Steel Gary Works facility, which is among the three most polluting mills in the U.S.
• In 2016, the Progressive Community Church installed 30 rooftop solar panels with a 7.6 kilowatt capacity, funded in part by a $10,000 grant from the Indiana Office of Energy Development's Community Energy Challenge Grant Program. Combined with energy efficiency upgrades like LED lighting and attic insulation, the church's electric bills dropped to zero in the first year and it remains net zero for eleven months of the year via the NIPSCO net-metering program.
• The church extended its energy efficiency efforts to the community by helping residents apply for the state’s Weatherization Assistance Program, resulting in seven members receiving funds for attic and crawlspace insulation to lower their energy burdens.
• The church established the F.A.I.T.H. Farm (Families Anchored in Total Harmony), which utilizes solar power for irrigation and winter heating to produce 15,000 pounds of edible food annually across nine plots of land, including hoop houses and orchards.
• To combat heat stress and the lack of cooling spaces in the predominantly Black Emerson neighborhood, the church created a five-parcel urban park with native Indiana trees to improve air quality, capture stormwater, and provide a nature-based respite for residents.

APA

Yañez-Barnuevo, M. (2022). How an Indiana Church Serves Its Community Through Clean Energy and Local Food. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/how-an-indiana-church-serves-its-community-through-clean-energy-and-local-food

Chicago

Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel. How an Indiana Church Serves Its Community Through Clean Energy and Local Food. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2022. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/how-an-indiana-church-serves-its-community-through-clean-energy-and-local-food.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yañez-Barnuevo |first1=Miguel |title=How an Indiana Church Serves Its Community Through Clean Energy and Local Food |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=19 August 2022 |url=https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/how-an-indiana-church-serves-its-community-through-clean-energy-and-local-food |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaezbarnuevo2022how, author = {Yañez-Barnuevo, Miguel}, title = {{How an Indiana Church Serves Its Community Through Clean Energy and Local Food}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2022}, month = aug, url = {https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/how-an-indiana-church-serves-its-community-through-clean-energy-and-local-food}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }