To Deliver Up to 1,000 Solar Lights to Haitian Village WACO, Texas (May 6, 2015) – The Dwyer Group, one of the world’s largest franchising companies of trade service brands, has partnered with New Vision Renewable Energy and Mission Waco Mission World to supply up to 1,000 solar-powered lights to the remote community of Ferrier Nord Est, located in an impoverished section of Haiti. Through the Light Haiti campaign, The Dwyer Group plans to raise $100,000 for the lights, which will be delivered on a mission trip planned in November. Very few people in this Haitian community, if any, have access to ongoingFor many local families who are participating in this program, this will give them solar lights that will provide four hours of lightThey will replace the kerosene-fueled lamps and candles they currently use that are costly and toxic, and replace them with solar power and clean energy to promote healthier communities. An estimated 800 families of Ferrier Nord Est have already completed 65

hours of community service per family for their solar lights. “Here at The Dwyer Group, we embrace and live our Code of Values everyday which helps with enriching lives,” said Dina Dwyer-Owens, co-chairwoman of The Dwyer Group. “For The Dwyer Group to be part of this project is something special and we are very proud to partner with New Vision Renewable Energy and Mission Waco Mission World to make the lives of others so much better.” Light Haiti is one of many projects Mission Waco Mission World has supported. The organization has been working with the Ferrier Nord Est community since 1984, and has helped to establish clean water systems, health and hygiene education, school sponsorships and orphan funds, as well as various For more information about the Light Haiti initiative, including a video from Dina Dwyer-Owens and how you or your organization can contribute to this worthy cause, please visit: About The Dwyer Group, Inc.®:

The Dwyer Group, Inc., based in Waco, Texas, is a holding company of eightCheap Stone Freestanding Bath franchise businesses, each selling and supporting a different franchise2 Person Jacuzzi Bathtubs under the following service marks: Aire Serv®, Glass Doctor®,Inpatient Weight Loss Programs New York The Grounds Guys®, Five Star Painting®, Mr. Appliance®, Mr. Electric®, Mr. Rooter® (Drain Doctor® in the UK and Portugal),Collectively, these independent franchise concepts offer customers worldwide a broad base of residential and commercialIn addition, The Dwyer Group® operates glass shops in New England under the Portland Glass® brand name. The Dwyer Group is a portfolio company of The Riverside Company®, a global private

The firm’s international portfolio includes more thanMore information onThe Dwyer Group, or its franchise concepts, is available at The Dwyer Group is also on Twitter at @DwyerGroup. New Vision Renewable Energy is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization launched in Philippi, West Virginia in 2009 as a grassroots Christian Community Development organization working to ReEnergize Communities to implement renewable energy solutions in their own neighborhoods through hands-on community development efforts. New Vision is an educational and innovation movement focusing on applicable technologies with renewable solutions and serves as a hub of collaborative discussion, training and invention bringing together green innovators, community leaders, youth, companies, organizations as well as public and private partners. member of the United Nations Foundation Energy Practitioners Network, New Vision helps to eradicate the effects of poverty in the developing

or find us on Facebook at New Vision Renewable Energy for more details. For more information, contact Pamela O’Brien at or by calling 304-457-2971. About Mission Waco Mission World: Mission Waco Mission World provides Christian-based holistic, relationship-based programs that empower the poor and marginalized. Americans to become more compassionately involved among the poor. ways to overcome the systemic issues of social injustice which oppress the poor and marginalized.Students from The New School’s Parsons School of Design worked with residents of Gran Sous, Haiti and Roots of Development to bring quality illumination to Gran Sous, Haiti. NEW YORK, July 7, 2016—Students from The New School’s Parsons School of Design worked with residents of Gran Sous, Haiti and Roots of Development (ROD), a Washington, D.C.-based community development group, to bring quality illumination to the light-deprived community through the installation of solar-powered light poles.

Led by Parsons faculty member and alumnus Chad Groshart, six students in the Parsons’ Lighting for Developing Countries class traveled 1,500 miles from their New York City classroom to the remote mountain village of Gran Sous to help locals develop, source, and install solar-powered lighting fixtures on five 25-foot-tall poles. The project has had an immediate social and economic impact on the community: residents can now travel more freely and meet for social gatherings after dark. The culmination of a semester-long study on light poverty in less developed countries, the project embodies Parsons’ commitment to using design to confront pressing social issues. “Through this project, our students have demonstrated that lighting design has the power to improve the quality of life for an entire community,” Groshart said. “Not only does light allow the community to socialize, study, and sell goods after dark, it is also seen as a marker of progress that will help it to attract more partners to advance development.”

Through each stage of the project, Groshart and his students focused on a homegrown approach to development: The team sourced needed gear from local vendors and worked closely with community residents on the design and installation of the lighting system. “The idea of development shouldn’t come from us, but from the community with which we’re working,” Groshart said. “There’s a long history of outside organizations with good intentions bringing ill-begotten solutions to Haiti. Our approach, which mirrors the approach of Roots of Development, is to give the community the tools they need to drive their own progress.” Responding to a request from The Professional Association for the Development and Advancement of Gran Sous (La Gonave), a local community group established by Roots of Development, Groshart and his students worked with local residents to develop an action plan to bring public lighting to their community. Together with residents of Gran Sous, students dug holes for the lights and set them in concrete.

The evening of the installation, Groshart and his students were awestruck by the transformation in the community: residents, relishing the new source of light, set up dominoes and card tables while vendors sold snacks. However, basking in the glow of their newfound resource was not enough for the residents of Gran Sous. Not long after the lights came on, the community was already reaching out to their government, international organizations, and outside communities to strategize ways of expanding lighting to other parts of Haiti. “After we completed the task of installing several solar lighting fixtures around Grand Sous, the faces of the residents told an entire story in one glance,” Alexander Valencia, MA Architecture ‘17, said. “They were proud of their lights and everyone in La Gonave was excited about the development. But more important than their sense of pride was their sense of connection to the larger community of Haiti and the rest of the world.” The project was sponsored by Atelier Ten Foundation, Bartco Lighting, Lumenwerx Lighting, and USAI Lighting.