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Once homeless, woman helped by Detroit's Community Health Corps wants others to know assistance is available

By and Amber Ainsworth
Published  November 18, 2021 6:05pm EST
Detroit
FOX 2 Detroit

How the Community Health Corps is helping Detroiters

For Detroiters in need, there is help available even if it seems like there are no resources.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Not long ago, Danika Pringle was pregnant and homeless.

However, with the help of Detroit's Community Health Corps, she now has a home.

"They really have helped me a lot," Pringle said. "With COVID happening, a lot of people were affected. I know I was, and I'm grateful for them."

Read: Community Health Corps provides resources to those in need

Pringle now wants others who are in need that help is available for them, too.

She said she was hopping from couch to couch with no place to live earlier this year. She applied for places to live, but couldn't find affordable housing.

"I applied everywhere and everyone said a minimum of five years waiting," Pringle said. "I kind of found myself in a desperate situation, and I wrote the mayor's office and it paid off big time."

Pringle was six months pregnant when she sent that letter. The mayor's office put her in contact with the Community Health Corps. 

She was able to stay in a hotel for two months before moving into her own home in March, where she lives with her now 7-month-old daughter Dariah.

"Just to actually have a place to bring my daughter home to, and for her to have everything that she needs, priceless," Pringle said.

The Community Health Corps was started during the COVID-19 pandemic to help Detroiters find resources.

"These stories are what make us come to work every single day," said Davis Bowser, the deputy director of the Corps. "We've had about 1,100 Community Health Corps cases opened, and we've impacted almost 3,000 residents through the services we're providing."

The Corps is designed to help people who have no other access to resources.

"If you go and get vaccinated or if you go and get tested at Joseph Walker Williams or at Northwest Activities Center, there is Community Health Corps intake happening at those sites," Bowser said.

There is not a direct line to reach the Corps. If you need help, reach out to your district manager or city councilperson.