At COTS, a Detroit-based non-profit that provides emergency shelter, supportive housing, children's services and other comprehensive support services for families experiencing and at risk of experiencing homelessness, we witness firsthand how policy decisions made in Lansing and Washington land hard in our neighborhoods.

Over the past several months, proposed budget cuts — spanning housing assistance, AmeriCorps and key HUD programs — have threatened to destabilize the already-strained nonprofit infrastructure that supports Detroit families.

These aren't abstract line items on a spreadsheet. These decisions impact our local families and communities. They translate to fewer available shelter beds, longer waitlists for case management and shrinking capacity to move families from crisis to

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