{"id":2599903,"date":"2022-09-06T11:53:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T17:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/?p=2599903"},"modified":"2022-09-12T12:57:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T18:57:21","slug":"alex-honnold-memphis-rox-solar-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/business-journal\/issues\/alex-honnold-memphis-rox-solar-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"This Climbing Gym Couldn’t Afford Solar Panels. Alex Honnold Stepped in to Help."},"content":{"rendered":"

Memphis Rox is one of the best climbing gyms in America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure, it has state-of-the-art bouldering and rope climbing, and enough free weights to build a 5.15 climber. It has a youth team and climbing coaches and yoga classes and fantastic setting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Memphis Rox, more than any other gym we\u2019ve seen, is making real, measurable impacts in the lives of its community. They cater not just to the \u00fcber-psyched gym members who pull down from open till close but to the non-climbing members of the wider South Memphis community. That\u2019s why Reel Rock made a feature film about the gym, and that\u2019s why the Honnold Foundation is working with Memphis Rox<\/a> right now: to help them keep their lights on despite an expensive and regressive local energy policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alex
Alex Honnold climbing at Memphis Rox (Photo: Peter Walle @peterrwalle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Memphis has some of the highest utility rates in the country,\u201d said Pearl Walker, civic engagement coordinator at the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, in the film Keep the Lights On<\/em>. \u201cA lot of people feel like Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) is collecting all this money\u2026and they\u2019re not taking into consideration what\u2019s in the best interests of the people and the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Memphis residents spend up to 25 percent of their income on utility bills\u2014a shocking figure, especially when you consider that most Americans spend around 5 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cMLGW is playing the back game,\u201d said Jarmond Johnson, Memphis Rox\u2019s outreach coordinator and gang activist. \u201cThey know the people in our community can\u2019t afford solar [if there are no equitable incentives]\u2014it\u2019s too expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson said the South Memphis community has received many empty promises in the 22 years he\u2019s lived in the area, mostly from \u201cbig [social] organizations saying they were going to do a lot for us but never did.\u201d That\u2019s why working with the Honnold Foundation, he said, was such a positive experience: the organization stepped in to provide financial support by installing solar panels to offset the maximum 20 percent of the gym\u2019s energy use. This allowed Memphis Rox to focus on connecting with the community.<\/p>\n

\"The
Installing solar panels on Memphis Rox (Photo: Malik Martin @malikthamartian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe goal of the Honnold Foundation is that we\u2019re just helping community organizations do what they do, but a little better,\u201d said Honnold himself. \u201cThey already have good ideas, they already know how to execute it, all we\u2019re doing is helping them save a little money so they can do their work at an even higher level.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Honnold added that working with Memphis Rox was especially meaningful because of how stifling MLGW is. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes it even more satisfying to do work there, because sometimes you just want to say \u201c<\/span>F\u00a0 you\u201d<\/span>\u00a0to the man. Utilities that don\u2019t want to get on board and do what\u2019s right for the community\u2026it makes it even more satisfying to [provide solar energy.]\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

From providing free-lunch and after-school programs to contributing to a steady decline in the area\u2019s crime rate since its opening, Memphis Rox’s efforts continue to positively impact the Soulsville community. \u201cMemphis Rox grabbed me out of the place I was in,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYou know, without the gym I\u2019d probably be in jail or dead.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s what makes the area\u2019s energy policy all the more frustrating [for Johnson]: money has trumped community impact. Memphis Rox has big goals for the future, including building a wood shop to teach trade skills to its members, a grocery store, and a medical clinic\u2014if it can keep its lights on. <\/span><\/p>\n