07/03/2026
A Message from Executive Director Liz Reed and the Tri-County Safe Harbor Board of Directors
Today, we join domestic violence agencies across Michigan in expressing our profound disappointment over the continued underfunding of critical victim services as with the recent passage of the state budget. While we are grateful that the Michigan Legislature fully funded R**e Prevention Services, the Crime Victim Rights Sustaining (CVRS) grant program fell $15 million short of what was needed to adequately support survivors and the agencies that serve them.
For organizations like Tri-County Safe Harbor, this is more than a budget number. It means continuing to do more with less while the need for our services continues to grow. It means making difficult decisions about staffing, programming, and resources, all while ensuring survivors and their children have a safe place to turn.
Across Michigan, domestic violence and sexual assault agencies are facing rising costs, workforce shortages, and years of declining federal and state support. In a single 24-hour period, more than 1,000 requests for help went unmet because programs lacked the funding, staffing, or resources to respond.
Here in Delta, Menominee, and Schoolcraft Counties, we see the need every day. Survivors come to us seeking safety, hope, advocacy, counseling, legal support, and emergency shelter. They do not ask whether funding is available—they simply need help.
Every survivor deserves safety.
Every child deserves protection.
Every family deserves access to life-saving services.
Our Board of Directors and staff remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that survivors in our communities have somewhere to turn. However, we cannot ignore the growing gap between the need for services and the resources available to provide them.
We respectfully urge our state and federal leaders to recognize that victim services are an essential investment in public safety and community well-being. Stable, sustainable funding allows agencies to retain trained advocates, keep shelter doors open, and ensure that no survivor is turned away because resources have run out.
We are deeply grateful to our donors, volunteers, community partners, and everyone who stands beside us. Your support has never been more important. Together, we will continue advocating for survivors and working toward a future free from violence.
Survivors cannot wait. Neither should the funding needed to protect them.