When disaster strikes, people need more than emergency trucks and shelters. They need places they already know and trust. That simple idea is behind a wave of community-led climate projects now featured on a new website launched by The Solutions Project.
Across the United States, extreme weather is becoming the new normal. Flooding, record heat, and wildfires force millions of people out of their homes every year. But in neighborhoods from California to Puerto Rico, ordinary people are building something different: resilience hubs.
In California, the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, known as APEN, has turned schools, libraries, and churches into havens during emergencies. These are places neighbors already use every day, so people know how to find them when danger hits. Shina Robinson, who manages APEN's Resilience Hubs program, said the goal goes beyond surviving. "For me, it's very hopeful," she said in a video on the website. "When we think of resilience, we are thinking not just about being able to bounce back from harm that's been done but really thrive."
More than a thousand miles away, on the island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands, another project is making waves. The Micronesia Climate Change Alliance launched a Solar Generator Loaner Program that lends portable solar power units to mothers and expectant mothers. When storms knock out electricity, these generators keep medicines refrigerated, baby formula safe, and phones charged. Moñeka De Oro, the group's co-executive director, explained that women already carry the weight of caring for families after disasters. "We know that resourcing mothers will cast a wider net of care across the community," she said. The program is rooted in the CHamoru value of inafa'maolek, a tradition of neighbors helping neighbors without waiting for the government to step in. The program will expand to other islands in the coming months.
Meanwhile, in Harris County, Texas, activists helped craft the first climate resilience plan ever created at the county level in the United States. Harris County is the third-largest county in the country, home to millions of people. The plan tackles five areas at once: parks and green spaces to reduce heat and flooding, solar backup power for neighborhoods that lose electricity often, job training and affordable housing, strong health services, and preserving community identity. The key difference? It focuses on prevention, not just reaction. By investing in stopping problems before they start, planners expect the county to save $6 for every $1 spent on mitigation.
These projects share a common thread. They don't wait for disasters to happen and then scramble. They build strength beforehand, with the people most affected leading the way. The Solutions Project's new website brings these stories together, showing that climate resilience is not just about surviving — it is about thriving.