Future of climate ‘resilience hubs’ uncertain after Trump cuts

• $87.9 million in environmental justice grants for Michigan communities were abruptly canceled in May by the Trump administration
• The cancellation leaves plans to construct disaster support centers in Benton Harbor, emergency shelters in Kalamazoo and resilience hubs in Detroit dead in the water
• Two recipients have filed a lawsuit against the EPA, arguing the administration isn’t allowed to cancel grant money portioned by Congress for a specific use

Plans to provide supportive services to residents during and after disasters in Benton Harbor, develop four local emergency shelters in Kalamazoo and equip 15 soup kitchens, churches and mosques in Detroit with electric vehicle chargers and battery storage have all been at a standstill since early May.

That’s when the Trump administration abruptly canceled $87.9 million in federal grants awarded to Michigan nonprofits, county governments and planning commissions to help them respond to a changing climate. Administration officials justified the cuts by saying the grant programs no longer aligned with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s priorities.

“We were off to a great start,” said Briana DuBose, the executive director of EcoWorks, a Detroit-based nonprofit that was awarded $20 million in December. “But, unfortunately, due to the terminations, we’re in a holding pattern.”

EcoWorks had planned to transform 15 houses of worship into what are called “community resilience hubs” — spaces where residents could access medical services, apply for relief or simply cool down during floods, heat waves or power outages.

Similar plans for Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, and the 12 federally recognized Native American tribes in the state have been stalled for now. A fifth grant for the Midwest Tribal Energy Resources Association to improve energy efficiency in tribal homes — worth $20 million — was also canceled.

Those resilience hubs, often located in existing soup kitchens, churches or civic centers, are designed to help communities deal with climate threats as the world struggles to curb greenhouse gas emissions. First piloted in Baltimore, the model has since spread to cities across the country, including Detroit and Ann Arbor.

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During a recent heat wave in Michigan, for example, about a dozen existing resilience hubs in Detroit provided shelter to residents seeking relief from high temperatures. 

But plans to create new hubs in the city and elsewhere have stalled in the wake of the grant cancellations. While some nonprofits rely more heavily on philanthropic dollars and have been able to continue their work, others say they’re unable to move forward without outside support.

So long as that grant money stays frozen, “we probably won’t see the development of many community resilience hubs,” said Douglas Jester, a managing partner at the pro-renewable consulting firm 5 Lakes Energy.

What is a resilience hub?

Resilience hubs are community facilities that provide vital resources — from food and water to medical supplies and backup power — before, during and after disasters. They’re typically located in underserved neighborhoods where residents are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In Detroit, for instance, power outages have historically hit low-income and minority communities hardest. 

In 2021, after extreme flooding overwhelmed parts of Detroit, Meghan Richards turned to the Eastside Community Network for help.

The network “paid for basement muck-out, helped people out with their FEMA applications and gave out supplies,” said Richards, who is now the organization’s assistant director of climate equity and coordinates the Resilient Eastside Initiative.

She emphasized that the location and familiarity of the hub — situated near her home and run by neighbors — played a big role in encouraging her and other residents to access help through the network.

“You can build the newest, most up-to-date buildings, but if people don’t know them, they’re not going,” Richards said.

Since 2023, the Eastside Community Network, in partnership with the City of Detroit, has established a dozen resilience hubs across east Detroit. Most of the funding came from the Kresge Foundation, rather than federal grants, Richards noted.

Grant terminations

EcoWorks, alongside the nonprofits Solar Faithful and Interfaith Solar & Light, announced a similar plan to convert 15 soup kitchens, churches and mosques into resilience hubs using a $20 million Community Change Grant awarded by the EPA. 

But in May, the Trump administration suddenly rescinded that award, along with other grants meant to benefit historically underserved communities — $2.7 billion nationwide — saying they no longer aligned with the agency’s values.

Democratic lawmakers criticized the move as illegal, arguing the grants were made using funds that Congress mandated be distributed to disadvantaged communities under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

An agency spokesperson rejected that argument, characterizing the grants as an example of the previous administration forcing “their radical agenda of wasteful DEI programs and ‘environmental justice’ preferencing the EPA’s core mission.

“The Trump EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, and communities to support projects that advance the agency’s core mission of protecting human health and the environment,” the spokesperson continued.

Among the canceled grants was $20 million intended to build two resilience hubs in Benton Harbor, upgrade energy efficiency in low-income housing and support a workforce development initiative.

“It's a pretty big blow to this community to lose that funding,” said Marcy Hamilton, a senior planner at the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission, which had received the grant.

Two of the five Michigan grant recipients, the Inter-Tribal Council of Michigan and Kalamazoo County, filed a class action lawsuit against the EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, last month, demanding the agency reinstate all the grant awards. The planning commission joined the suit as a class action member, Hamilton said.

Kalamazoo County had planned to use their $18.9 million award to develop four neighborhood centers that could be used as emergency shelters during extreme weather and improve the energy efficiency of 300 homes around the city of Kalamazoo. The Inter-Tribal Council had planned similar upgrades to tribal homes and to make 12 government facilities into resilience hubs. 

Lawyers for the county and council claim the terminations have harmed and will continue to harm communities that face the greatest impacts from “environmental degradation and have historically had little voice in the decision-making process that affect them,” according to court filings.

On July 9, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, joined by 18 states and the District of Columbia, filed an amicus brief supporting the plaintiffs. The filing argues that canceling congressionally mandated grants violates the constitutional separation of powers.

Search for new funding

While the lawsuit proceeds, Hamilton said the planning commission is pursuing alternative funding sources, such as private philanthropy or money from state-run programs like MI Solar for All, which installs solar panels on buildings and has not been affected by the cancellations.

“But it's nothing that'll be as quick or transformational" as the now-rescinded EPA grant, Hamilton said.

Meanwhile, a neighborhood group in South Dearborn is looking to the Legislature for support. State Rep. Alabas Farhat, D-Dearborn, has requested $8 million in the state budget to help fund the construction of a resilience hub equipped with an air-filtration system, a solar array that can store power for 72 hours and communications equipment that works during outages.

“The unfortunate truth is that there’s a disproportionate impact on my constituents who live in one of the most polluted ZIP codes in the state,” Farhat wrote in a text message. “On top of facing increased health and environmental risks, many of them also struggle to afford the cost of high utilities and repairs that result from climate change.”

Sam Luqman, a board member of Concerned Residents for South Dearborn, said the state funding is critical. Given the federal setbacks, she’s hoping Farhat can deliver.

Without it, she said, “our community will continue to suffer — and we suffer at disproportionate rates compared to other communities.”

DuBose, of EcoWorks, said that, even if the lawsuit fails, there could still be ways for churches and community centers to implement smaller-scale resilient upgrades, like installing solar panels or backup generators.

Jacqueline Moore, the founder and CEO of SDM2 Project Education — one of the planned beneficiaries from the EcoWorks grant — echoed that sentiment, saying “it does not stop us from getting the job done.”