New funding is on its way to Erie County to support the Buffalo Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs Plan, which will support emergency response and extreme weather hubs and bring emergency preparedness resources, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Tim Kennedy, along with PUSH Buffalo and a coalition of other Western NY environmental justice groups, announced Wednesday.

The funding includes $20 million via the Inflation Reduction Act, which lawmakers say will also support local workforce training initiatives for solar installation, energy efficiency upgrades, and other energy-related trades to help families lower costs and fight climate change locally.

“I’m championed the Inflation Reduction Act, the single largest investment in environmental and climate justice in history, because we need to invest in communities like Buffalo to give them both the resources and the skills to combat climate change locally – not to mention new tools to hold down energy costs. I am proud to deliver this major up to $20 million federal investment to make neighborhoods across Buffalo more resilient, keep people prepared in emergencies like snowstorms, flooding and heatwaves, and give people the tools to enter clean-energy careers,” said Schumer. “This is a win-win: making Buffalo neighborhoods stronger in the face of emergencies and boosting workforce training for good paying clean-energy jobs. This will help build a cleaner, greener and more resilient future for Western NY.”

The Buffalo Neighborhood Mobilization Hubs Plan aims to create Community Resilience Hubs across Erie County to provide disadvantaged communities access to portable solar kits, batteries, walkie-talkies, backup generators, and other emergency equipment in emergencies. 

“No one should be without access to critical support services during an emergency,” said Gillibrand. “I’m proud to announce this federal funding, which will help make sure that residents of Buffalo have access to the resources they need during climate-related crises. I’m committed to building on this initiative, and I will continue working to guarantee that communities across New York have the services they need to combat the growing number of climate-related emergencies striking our state.”

The project will purchase portable network kits, solar kits to power them, wired internet access, and other devices will be stored at Community Tech Labs.