Restoring the home we have
A $400,000 National Trust grant for the Little House foundation, courtyard, trellises and sanctuary wall, and exterior paint. Details below.
A home for what comes next
What’s Next for UAMEZ?
We have two projects for our Palo Alto campus: a $400,000 preservation grant to restore our Middlefield Road home, and a planned Clean Energy Hub with solar, batteries and EV charging. Both prepare us to serve future generations.
Where things stand
Where things stand: We've received the first payment of our $400,000 preservation grant. The Clean Energy Hub has the congregation's and the Bishop's approval. We'll post construction dates here as they're confirmed.
Two projects
What is the short version?
Drawn from our pastor's newsletters.
A Clean Energy Hub
Solar, battery storage and EV charging, planned so our campus can offer power and a cool or warm space in an outage. Details below.
Note: the two projects have separate funding.
Beyond the buildings
Why does this matter?
The next generation of families needs a church that is still standing, still open, and still serving the block. Our point is space for community, and our energy work rests on stewardship of creation (Psalm 24:1), care for vulnerable neighbors during heat and outages, and environmental justice.
Read how our story began“We are not preserving a monument. We are preparing a home.”
Pastor Kaloma Smith, “The Full Story Behind Our $400,000 Grant”
Preservation grant
What will the restoration repair?
The campus was designed by architects Reginald F. Inwood and Albert A. Hoover as a mid-century modern home with natural materials, breezeways and a courtyard meant as an extension of the sanctuary. Read the full history.
Latest report
First payment received. Work still ahead.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund awarded us the $400,000 grant. After more than a year of planning, we officially received our first check.
We anticipate permitting in August and September and visible work from October through winter and into the next year.
A 1920s building that is shifting
We have widening cracks, shifting floors, basement flooding and doors that no longer open. Our planned engineered work includes steel foundation piers, support jacks under floors, basement and crawlspace encapsulation, drainage, sump pumps and removal of invasive roots.
Room for fellowship outdoors
We will remove invasive trees, install root barriers and repour lifted or cracked walkways, so the courtyard can again serve fellowship and outdoor ministry.
Rebuilt with fitting materials
Rotted redwood trellises at the entrance and courtyard, and the deteriorating low sanctuary wall, are coming out, and we will rebuild them with historically appropriate materials. Their current condition is a safety concern.
Protection for every building
We plan a protective exterior paint job for every campus building.
Who is involved
Our Trustees manage the effort. Our partners: Numa Gardens for landscape architecture (design principal KC Carlisle); Groundworks for Little House stabilization, piers and encapsulation; MTL for the architectural trellis and trowel work; Canterbury Contractors for painting.
We celebrate KC Carlisle as the designer and architect behind the courtyard project, and we recognize Numa Gardens as a Black-owned studio.
Next steps and a bigger dream
An outside donor has committed $48,000 toward plants and landscaping, in addition to the grant. Larger gathering spaces or a new building are a vision beyond the grant. We anticipate a congregational survey, then prayer and a fall campaign. Contact us to share ideas.
What could change during construction?
We expect temporary fencing, parking changes and closed areas. Final plans depend on city permits and National Trust review. See visiting for access guidance.
Landscape concepts
What could the courtyard look like?
Concept designs by Numa Gardens. Final plans depend on city permits and National Trust review. Select a rendering to view it larger.
Courtyard: flagstone patio and redwood trellisConcept for the main courtyard as a place to sit and stay a while after Sunday service. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
Garden seating under olive treesConcept for long tables under olive trees, near the parking lot, where families could eat together after church. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
The campus from the streetConcept for how the campus could look from the street, with new trees and a stone border along the front. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
Paved plaza with olive treesConcept for a shaded plaza between the buildings, with room for kids to run after service. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
Glass doors opening to a patioConcept for glass doors opening onto a flagstone patio, so a gathering inside could move outside. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
Courtyard tables with olive and citrusConcept for picnic tables under olive trees and potted citrus, for long lunches after church. Rendering: Numa Gardens.
Community Decarbonization Hub
What is the Clean Energy Hub?
We plan rooftop solar on campus buildings, battery storage, EV charging and electrification of aging gas equipment, working as a microgrid for outages, with phone and car charging and temperature-controlled space for neighbors. Planned. We'll announce when it opens.
How many chargers will there be?
Ten charging stations in total are planned: five fast and five standard. A GridLink battery unit with two fast ports was delivered and staged in the southeast corner of the parking lot in July 2026. Eight more chargers from OpConnect, described as a minority-owned company based in Portland, Oregon, are planned.
How big is the solar plan?
Our preliminary engineered plan, dated September 23, 2025, describes 98.8 kW and 178 panels across rooftop and carport arrays.
What happened to the bigger plan?
As funding and incentives shrank, the original vision of rebuilding the parking lot, flat roofs and heating upgrades was cut back. The core solar, battery, charging, electrification and microgrid remain.
Where are the solar canopies?
Funding for the canopies is secured, but the parking-lot surface work needed to support them is not funded. They are waiting on that work.
Who is involved?
The Trustees; Dr. Anthony Kinslow II of Gemini Energy Solutions, the lead organization; Rev. Dr. Ambrose Carroll Sr., founder of Green The Church; and OpConnect for the additional chargers. Dr. Kinslow was an earlier UAMEZ member: six years on the Trustees and the sanctuary LED lighting upgrades.
Funding
Does the church take on debt or sell land?
How is it structured?
About $2.5 million in capital is carried by partners rather than congregational tithes and offerings; no church debt or loan, no property sale and no ground lease; equipment, not land, is the collateral; and roughly $750,000 is associated with the 30% federal clean-energy tax credit under the project structure.
How could it benefit ministry?
We project about $20,000 a year in energy savings, and a share of charging profit of 10% at first, rising to 20% as development costs are repaid. We project church revenue starting near $20,000 and growing toward $75,000. Projected.
Can the community use it for events?
The agreement permits up to ten free community events a year.
Does it ask for money?
We ask you to pray for the Energy Hub, not to finance its partner-funded capital. To support the wider ministry of the church, see Give.
Plans and schedules can change. Contact us for current status.
Energy Hub milestones
How did it get here?
Our milestones so far. The last two rows are anticipated.
- 2022–2023Conversations and scoping.
- Mar–Apr 2023City charger-rebate deadline met; site visit and approval.
- 2024Energy assessments, engineering and campus visits.
- Nov 2024We visit the operating hub at Glad Tidings in South Hayward.
- Dec 2024City transformer-cost agreement reported.
- Spring 2025Joined GTC RED, a Green The Church initiative.
- Jun–Jul 2025Feasibility report shared with the Bishop and Presiding Elder; kickoff July 1; written financing review.
- Summer–Oct 2025Equipment selection, rebates, interconnection agreement, updated design and permit package submitted.
- Dec 2025State-leadership briefing.
- Winter 2025–26Insurance and geotechnical work.
- Feb 12, 2026Trustees working session.
- Feb 22, 2026Congregational vote, Presiding Elder present.
- Spring 2026City gas-line and meter work reported.
- Apr–May 2026Bishop approval reported.
- Jun 2026Gathering of contracted churches.
- Jul 2026GridLink battery delivery reported.
- Fall–winter 2026Rooftop solar, battery commissioning and first charging station. Not a verified opening date. (anticipated)
- Winter–spring 2027City transformer. Not a guaranteed completion. (anticipated)
Here, today
Can I still come on Sunday?
You are welcome at Sunday worship at 10:00 AM, 3549 Middlefield Road. Construction may change parking or close parts of campus. Call us to check access that week.
If you need step-free access, a particular entrance, parking, or a specific room, get in touch or see visit details.
How to help: pray for the crews, the Trustees and wise decisions, and share ideas through our contact page.
Where can I read the original letters?
Our pastor shares the fuller story in these church newsletters. Contact us for the latest construction updates.
A future we can share
Want to see the life inside this place?
Come this Sunday, and ask us about access that week. The best way to understand why the campus matters is to meet the people who gather here.
Sundays at 10:00 AM
3549 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto