In Northeast Houston, a unique community initiative is transforming how neighbors cope with increasingly frequent power outages and extreme weather events. Doris Brown, a 75-year-old resident, experienced firsthand the benefits of this program during a summer blackout in 2023. Thanks to the solar panel and battery system installed in her home, Brown’s electricity stayed on while the rest of the neighborhood plunged into darkness. Her house quickly became a sanctuary for about 15 neighbors, who gathered to charge phones, cook meals, shower, and even sleep before heading to work or school.
Brown’s home is one of seven “hub homes” participating in a pilot project aimed at creating emergency safe havens within residential neighborhoods, rather than relying solely on traditional shelters or community centers. The program seeks to foster resilience through neighbor-to-neighbor support, reflecting a grassroots response to long-standing community disinvestment and neglect. “It’s us helping us,” Brown said, describing how local residents are coming together to prepare for extreme weather and power outages.
The program was designed to expand to 30 more homes, but this growth was abruptly halted in August 2023 when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) canceled the $7 billion Solar for All initiative, which would have funded the expansion. Harris County, which includes Houston, has since joined multiple lawsuits challenging the EPA’s decision. Despite the setbacks, those involved remain committed to the concept and its potential to strengthen communities vulnerable to climate-related disruptions.
Hub homes represent an unconventional approach to disaster preparedness that depends heavily on community trust and cooperation. Unlike larger resilience centers that serve hundreds or thousands, these homes serve smaller groups but create critical pockets of preparedness in neighborhoods with limited resources. Sam Silerio, Texas program director at Solar United Neighbors (SUN), one of the nonprofits behind the pilot, emphasized that the initiative targets neighborhoods often overlooked in resilience planning. “It was a way to increase resilience in those neighborhoods that are often forgotten,” he said.
The idea for hub homes emerged in the wake of Winter Storm Uri in 2021, a catastrophic weather event that left much of Texas without power for five days and caused 246 storm-related deaths, according to the Texas Department of Health Services. Many fatalities were linked directly to power outages, as patients lost access to refrigerated medicines or medical devices, and others suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from unsafe use of generators. Uri exposed critical vulnerabilities in the state’s power grid and emergency response systems.
In response, community organizations like West Street Recovery (WSR), a nonprofit founded after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, stepped up efforts to prepare residents for future disasters. WSR initially purchased generators to share among residents and added supplies such as life jackets and kayaks for flood evacuations. It also organized preparedness trainings. Doris Brown, who nearly froze during Uri, volunteered as a hub home captain, understanding the urgent need for reliable power during emergencies.
When Solar United Neighbors approached WSR with a private grant from the Hive Fund to install free solar panels and battery systems on select homes, WSR knew exactly which houses could serve as effective hubs. The pilot faced some hurdles, including the need for roof repairs before solar installation and training hub captains to manage battery use efficiently. Crucially, success depended on building neighborly trust, which is often elusive in modern communities.
David Espinoza, a 34-year-old co-director of community organizing and language access at WSR, serves as a hub captain on his block. He went door-to-door introducing himself to neighbors, overcoming wariness and fostering a stronger sense of community. His hub home serves about a dozen registered neighbors but remains open to anyone in need, prioritizing vulnerable residents such as older adults, families with children, and those with medical conditions. Beyond emergency preparedness, Espinoza noted that the solar system cut his utility bills by half and helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adding environmental benefits to the program’s social impact.
For neighborhoods like Espinoza’s, which include mixed-status and Spanish-speaking households, hub homes provide critical access that traditional shelters may not. “They can access me a little easier,” he explained, highlighting the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate support during crises.
The need for local resilience strategies has grown as extreme weather events, power outages, and rising electricity costs increasingly strain communities nationwide. According to Sarah Kotwis, senior associate at the clean energy nonprofit RMI, average annual power interruption hours in the U.S. have risen significantly over the past decade, largely driven by climate