Public housing can be the last line for some.
"This building is the last stop for a lot of people," explains Don Sober who lives at 3200 S Washington in Lansing. "You know, if you lose residence here, for a lot of people it's right back to the streets."
Which is why federal funding is so important to mid-Michigan.
"When it comes right down to it, there ain't any other way to say it besides it's home."
But with budget cuts looming at the department of housing and urban development, public housing could be in trouble.
"We don't have the funding structure," describes Lansing Housing Commission director Martell Armstrong to representative Mike Bishop. "and over time we've looked to alleviate that, but it takes a long time to turn that ship around."
"Tell me about it," responded representative Bishop in turn.
That's why the Lansing Housing Commission brought congressman Bishop through one of its locations Wednesday.
"So he can see it first hand, so he can tell our story, he can speak on our behalf," says Armstrong.
He says he wants to talk to as many federal officials as possible about what they need. They spoke with HUD secretary Ben Carson last month.
Representative Bishop says he will do what he can:
"There are some serious costs involved and those are things that you have to talk about; how do we most efficiently address costs like that in a community like this that really needs this facility," asks Bishop. "So this is a priority facility and we need to figure out how we're going to make that happen."
But no matter what happens, Armstrong says the Lansing Housing Commission will do what it can to make ends meet:
"Where we have the fiscal wherewithal, we will continue to invest in our residents and that's always been the goal, has always been the mission, and will continue to be the mission."
