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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — <\/span>New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a> met with nonprofits in Puerto Rico<\/a> on Friday as officials announced a $280,000 partnership to help the U.S. territory confront emergencies.<\/p>\n The partnership between Hispanic Federation and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York comes as Puerto Rico struggles with chronic power outages<\/a> and intermittent water shortages<\/a> while it tries to rebuild from Hurricane Maria<\/a> and other disasters.<\/p>\n The nonprofit Hispanic Federation said the money would equip 10 community-run resiliency hubs across the island with increased water storage capacity; some also would receive rain-collection systems, kitchen infrastructure and solar power with battery storage.<\/p>\n “Puerto Rico\u2019s families have lived through more disasters than anyone should have to,\u201d said Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of Hispanic Federation.<\/p>\n The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is contributing $210,000 to the effort while Hispanic Federation raised an additional $70,000, officials said.<\/p>\n \u201cConversations about climate change and environmental justice are essential to the wellbeing and future of our communities,\u201d said New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n She and Mamdani are among a group of New York government officials in Puerto Rico for a four-day, annual conference.<\/p>\n The announcement comes months after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump canceled solar projects<\/a> in Puerto Rico that were supposed to help thousands of low-income families. One project, worth $400 million, would have seen the installation of solar and battery storage systems in low-income homes and those with medical needs. <\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Energy has said the money initially slated for solar projects would instead be used to help maintain Puerto Rico\u2019s crumbling power grid, which was razed by Hurricane Maria in September 2017. The grid, however, was already weakened given a lack of maintenance and investment.<\/p>\n The decisions prompted outrage<\/a> on the island as federal support for solar projects fades<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last week, six Puerto Rico residents sued the U.S. Energy Department and its secretary, Chris Wright, following the scrapping of a $1 billion federally funded program to provide solar power and battery storage to those who most needed it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of such systems remains out of reach for the majority of Puerto Ricans,\u201d the lawsuit stated.<\/p>\n Among those suing is 63-year-old Arecibo resident Ileana R\u00edos, who is diabetic and needs to refrigerate her insulin. Meanwhile, her son has asthma and needs to use a nebulizer, which requires electricity.<\/p>\n The lawsuit noted that R\u00edos \u201cregularly loses power when the weather is stable and always loses power during storms, sometimes for several weeks at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n The other residents who sued also have serious health conditions and need equipment or medications that rely on electricity.<\/p>\n The lawsuit requests that a judge order the U.S. Energy Department to reinstate the grant program, among other things.<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of Energy did not immediately return a message seeking comment.<\/p>\n The funding loss has been a blow to nonprofits and others who faced months of uncertainty and confusion as they awaited the Trump administration\u2019s decision on whether and how it would continue the program.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of uncertainty. … At some points it just felt like we were talking to no one,” said Sybelle Rodriguez del Valle, director of operations at the energy resilience nonprofit Barrio El\u00e9ctrico, which was part of the U.S. Energy Department program.<\/p>\n Barrio El\u00e9ctrico provides electric service to more than 500 families across 12 municipalities in Puerto Rico and was poised to provide resilient energy for 1,200 families with funds from the federal program. It had only completed about one-third of its projects before the program ended, losing an estimated $16 million to $20 million in funding.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Associated Press reporter Gabriela Aoun Angueira contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n