ODOE Grant Program Celebrates Solar on New Latino Community Center
La Plaza Esperanza’s new rooftop solar. | Image courtesy of Carpentry Plus, for Colas Construction
The Latino Network opened La Plaza Esperanza in spring 2025 as a community center in East Multnomah County’s Rockwood neighborhood.
"La Plaza Esperanza represents a powerful vision of our Latine communities, of a place of hope and safety, a place of powerful transformation of lives and a place of resilience,” Latino Network Executive Director Tony DeFalco said.
Jim Mauceri, Latino Network’s Development Project Manager, said La Plaza Esperanza was a long-held dream many years in the making.
“There’s nothing like it on the eastside at all — not only a hub for social service delivery, but also just kind of a home for Latinos in Portland Metro, especially in east county where there’s a really high concentration,” said Mauceri.
The City of Gresham and Latino Network partnership was a recipient of a $579,841 grant from the first round of ODOE’s Community Renewable Energy Grant Program. The funding supported a rooftop solar and a battery backup system for La Plaza Esperanza.
Mauceri said the renewable energy components of the project were DeFalco’s vision, but the ability to add solar was contingent on funding. “He insisted that it be designed to be solar ready in case we were able to find funding and, of course, we did – with ODOE,” said Mauceri.
Beyond the environmental benefits of burning less fossil fuel, La Plaza Esperanza is anticipated to have energy cost savings and will benefit from strengthened resiliency.
“If we have a grid failure, an ice storm, a heat wave … we want to at minimum be able to operate our preschool, a few of our offices in the building and at least be able to stay up and running for a few days,” said Mauceri. “The system should, across a year, offset all of our energy needs.”
The Latino Network was also the recipient of a PGE grant funded through the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality that provided nine electric vehicle charging stations in the parking lot and an electric van.
Across the Latino Network’s plethora of social services and advocacy, including education, economic justice, workforce development and more, Mauceri said energy and climate justice is a becoming a focus.
“We’re trying to apply climate justice philosophies and green energy opportunities across all our departments,” said Mauceri.
Now that the community center is complete, Mauceri said Latino Network is studying the feasibility of creating a microgrid at La Plaza Esperanza with the three other adjacent non-profit organizations and defining the center’s role in supporting community resilience in times of emergency.
DeFalco said, “With ODOE CREP resources, we were able to install solar and battery storage making La Plaza even more durable in the event of power outages, enabling our community to come together in times of need.”
A fourth round of ODOE’s Community Renewable Energy Program grant funding is anticipated to open soon for renewable energy and resilience projects. Learn more about the program and requirements.