Danyelle Winfield, Detroit

After I had my son, Sega, I remember everything falling apart. The house we were living in was deemed unlivable and we were being evicted. I was experiencing postpartum depression. I had nowhere to go and I was at a point where I wanted to give up. 

I was recommended to call 2-1-1 to seek some type of support and ask for resources. The operator was kind and patient while giving me resources. My favorite question of all was, “What else might you need help with?” I’m not used to having support, so that question had me frozen, like, “Someone wants to continue to help me?” It was a spiritual turnover because somebody was treating me how I like to treat people. 

2-1-1 referred me to Connect4Care Kids. Through them, I found my daycare home called Childtime. Now, Sega’s at a safe daycare that even has live streaming where I can see him on camera. It’s been a blissful experience. I felt like somebody had me and my baby’s back.

Now Sega is 19 months, he’s walking and learning to talk. Some of our favorite things to do together are singing, reading and swimming at the YMCA. If I see anybody going through a similar experience, I would tell them to stop, count to 10 and call 2-1-1. Tell them everything. 2-1-1 becomes a therapist, a support system, and they have so many resources. Just stop, breathe, count to 10 and call 2-1-1.