It’s one thing to ignore need. It’s another to erase it.

Federal decisions are no longer just failing to meet people where they are—they’re actively dismantling the systems that once tried. Food aid burned. Refugee offices shuttered. Public service roles emptied not by budget crises, but by purges disguised as “loyalty tests.”

Cruelty isn’t the byproduct. It’s the point. Every denial of care is a display. Every dismantled program is a message: we won’t help you—and we’ll make sure no one else can either.

But care isn’t weakness. It’s resistance. And where systems fail, people must fill the gap.