4 GROUNDCOVER NEWS CRISIS RESPONSE APRIL 3, 2026 Care-Based Safety has come to an end, but the work continues Care-Based Safety was an unarmed nonpolice response community that was established in September 2023. Care-Based Safety was dedicated to acting with principle and intention. CBS is taking careful steps in sunsetting this community response program that brought loving, unarmed support to people directly impacted by structural violence — without police. In planning, response and practice, CBS centered the needs of people who are Black, Indigenous, undocumented, unhoused, LGBTQIA+, using drugs and/or experiencing mental health struggles. From the start, CBS was focused not just on response, but also on community building. CBS was co-created through listening sessions and surveys. From their design team they heard over and over that: 50% of the work should be community building; building trust and a safety net in our community is the only way for success; and those who respond to whatever situations that might occur in our community should be from the community. To that end CBS created and launched a series of “place-based pilot programs.” “The pilot program is a place-based pilot, meaning we will be in the downtown area and if any crisis or conflict is brought to our attention, we will respond,” said Community Lead Sheri Wander. From June to September 2024, CBS hosted games, activities and connection two nights per week at the Growing Hope location in downtown Ypsilanti. During that time, they planned and delivered wellness and community-building activities that averaged around 28 participants per event, and distributed resources and supplies. CBS also provided rapid response crisis management including court and jail support, shelter support, conflict de-escalation, mental health crisis intervention and also launched a "nonemergency support phone number so people could connect with court support service, information about food pantries, transportation needs and more," according to Wander. Organizing for CBS grew directly out of organizing in protest of the murder of Aura Rosser at the hands of the Ann Arbor Police Department. Realizing that police oversight was not enough and there needed to be an alternative to the police, the Coalition for Re-envisioning our Safety (CROS) was formed. CROS eventually split into two MIKE JONES Groundcover vendor No. 113 groups: CROS itself remained largely an advocacy group and the CBS Design Team was born. While CROS worked to push the City of Ann Arbor to fund a nonpolice response to conflict and crisis, the CBS design team designed such a program, Care-Based Safety. When (pushed by CROS advocacy) Ann Arbor launched a request for proposals (RFP) to grant an organization $3.5 million to do that work for the City of Ann Arbor, CBS applied. CBS was the only group that applied. In spite of that, CBS did not receive the grant. In fact, after the application deadline, the City revoked the RFP, stating that they had changes they needed to make, but that CBS could reapply when the new RFP was issued. When the new RFP was eventually issued, it was inconsistent with the values of CBS. It required info from response calls to be FOIAable and for responders to report crimes (including drug use and camping). It also required immediate 24-7 response which was not realistic, and didn't fund the community building pieces that CBS believes are so critical. So CBS had community meetings and asked if the group should apply for this new RFP and, to a person, the answer was no. So the focus shifted to Ypsilanti and was funded with smaller grants from private foundations and individual donations. Care-Based Safety operated one program with two core components: Community Building, which strengthened communities to prevent harm, and Care-Based Response, which provided support before, during and after conflict, crisis or other concerns. Using a public health approach, the program was led by highly trained, fairly-compensated peer workers, with additional support from dedicated volunteers. Shaped by CROS research and 18 community listening sessions in 2023, it was designed to be independent from government, separate from 911 and law enforcement, sustainably funded, and peer-led. In addition to responding to individual conflicts, CBS addressed structural violence — such as institutional Left to right: CBS staff Amal, Sheri , Essence, Nia and Tyler. neglect and discrimination — that fuels harm in our communities. Every decision is rooted in safety, self-determination, dignity and community consent. Back in 2023, I talked to Washtenaw County native Liz Kennedy, the former director, who led operations and culture work at CBS. I asked her, “Why does this community need CBS?” “The community we serve asked for (CBS). We are a very diverse group of community leaders, who work, live and play in Ypsilanti, and Ann Arbor, and in the wider Washtenaw County community. We are the representatives of people who are most impacted by police and state violence like people of color, trans and queer, and those suffering from mental health issues, and together we are developing a carebased system for all. Care-Based Safety is created by us and for us.” Message sent to community partners from CBS After deep and mindful discernment, we have decided that CareBased Safety will sunset at the end of March 2026. It is ironic, sunsetting the organization on the heels of the 30-hour violent police siege against a local community member resulting from calls concerned about his mental health, and the police killing of an unarmed individual following a police chase through residential neighborhoods in a separate incident. These incidents certainly underscore in very real and painful ways the need for this work and made this decision even more painful and difficult. Yet we believe it is the right decision. Over the last three to four years, since community members came together to dream CBS into being, the political and funding landscape has changed greatly. We realize that the CBS as designed by the community simply cannot currently exist without municipal funding and support. We also realize that organizations, like all living things, have life cycles. While Care Based Safety as an organization is sunsetting, by doing so intentionally — in a planned, mindful and values-aligned way — we help to maintain the space for the work of safety based in care to continue and to grow in ways we have only begun and sometimes haven’t even started to imagine! That realization is the sweet to go with the bitter, and gives us hope. We have learned so much over the past few years and are still learning. We look forward to sharing those lessons. Over the next month please look for one final newsletter, and other avenues to share those “lessons learning.” With NO pressure or obligation, we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas and lessons from this journey. As individuals we came to CBS already involved in this work of safety-based care in a variety of ways and look forward to continuing to be in community with you continuing the work even though it won’t be under the banner of CBS. Care-Based Safety sends a special thanks to friends and partners: Interfaith Council for Peace & Justice, Coalition for Re-envisioning our Safety, Peace House Ypsi, Detroit Justice Center, American Friends Service Committee, Vital Strategies, United Way Southeast Michigan, Borealis Philanthropy, Community Economic Development Washtenaw County, Community Foundation Washtenaw County, Michigan Justice Fund and Daytime Warming Center.
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