Resilience in the D is a five-part series launched to commemorate BridgeDetroit’s fifth anniversary and recognize Detroiters who have made a difference in their communities. Selections were made based on resident nominations.
Gary Ringer, a retired firefighter, circled a one-story brick home decorated with neatly arranged pinwheels and a Thunderbird parked in the driveway.
The homeowner, an elder Detroiter, showed Ringer the old gutters and the broken roof, where a raccoon had begun clawing at the holes. Ringer took pictures on the muggy June afternoon, then went indoors to diagnose the damage further.
This is the latest chapter in Ringer’s life of public service. The 50-year-old has visited more than 100 Detroit homes like this in the past year alone, with an emphatic purpose: to keep those homes—and the people living in them—healthy and safe.
In this particular home, water had dripped through the holes in the roof, seeped into the walls and ate away at the plaster.
“At that point, I knew, this is a high-priority item,” Ringer later recalled. “[Water] can support mold. It can support termites. It can support the deterioration of the entire wall system.”
In an era of aging infrastructure, broken furnaces, pipes, wiring, porches or roofs can endanger residents and catalyze blight and financial hardship. The long-simmering issue in Detroit has reached crisis mode, costing billions of dollars to address.
Community agencies have fielded thousands of calls from residents searching for help. Thousands have idled on waitlists. Home repair programs have emerged to meet the colossal demand. But the aid ecosystem can be hard to navigate.
So, Ringer leads the way.
He is a contractor for community nonprofits, including the Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance and Redeem Detroit—two agencies that strive to create hope, possibility and opportunity across the city. With a strong work ethic and a passion for healthy communities, Ringer serves residents in need.
He shares resources that offer financial relief. He appraises homes for hazards that could threaten the integrity of a property or the health of a family. He passes down his skills to the next generation.
Supporting healthy homes
The home Ringer visited in June sat in a quiet slice of Cody Rouge. More than 50,000 people live in the Detroit community, and about 66% of households make less than $50,000 a year, per 2023 census data. The far west side neighborhood carries a past of foreclosed houses and a plan to revitalize the land.
Many Cody Rouge homes were built before 1950, setting off concerns of deterioration.
“I have residents that can’t go in their front door because their stairs and their porch [are] dilapidated,” Ringer said. “Driveways are cracked and buckling and uneven.”
Replacing a roof is an expense that can deplete a homeowner’s bank account. “Anywhere from $10,ooo to $15,000,” Ringer estimated. He suspects some houses in this neighborhood haven’t gotten new roofs since being built in the 20th century.
Can families here afford all that?
“Some can. Most can’t, especially in today’s day and age,” said Ringer, citing the exorbitant costs of groceries, housing, insurance and other facets of daily living. A broken-down car. A child’s graduation. A mother falling ill.
Such hardships haven’t been ignored. The Cody Rouge Community Action Alliance manages several home repair programs funded by a mix of state and federal authorities. Residents can get their porches, plumbing, furnaces, hot water tanks, windows or roofs fixed. The nonprofit relies on Ringer’s leadership and expertise to realize their mission.
“We’re trying to build more relationships,” said Ringer, a contractor for the alliance. “The role that I’m playing is essentially a support system.”
Related:
Poor or inadequate housing quality can cause illness or injury, so Ringer seizes the chance to “educate the homeowner about the severity” of such conditions.
With the help of the state and the city, Ringer has passed out free detection kits for radon, a radioactive gas that slips through tiny crevices in walls or a basement floor.
“Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer,” said Ringer, passionate about sharing sobering health facts that could save a life. “It’s the first unintended harm in homes. Radon kills 21,000 people every year, and I talk to homeowners on a regular basis who have lived in their home for two, three decades and have never tested their home for radon.”
Carbon monoxide, which can emanate from a stove left burning or a car left running in a garage, can poison everyone, but inhaling the gas is more dangerous for babies and older people. To prevent tragedy, Ringer encourages homeowners to install detectors for carbon monoxide.
A house in bad shape can have other consequences besides the medically catastrophic. Scientists say that social connections can make people live longer. But you might not want family or friends over if the walls are cracking or the hot water isn’t running at all.
Life doesn’t have to go down that lonely road. Not if Ringer can help it.
“People feel better when things are taken care of,” he said.
Rushing to 911 calls
Ringer grew up near Detroit’s Rogell Golf Course, a 120-acre expanse on Berg Road and Seven Mile that shuttered in 2013 but is poised for a revival. In its glory days, the manicured greens inspired tranquil memories of recreation among Detroit families.
Ringer remembers the vibrance of that place and all the fun he had: sledding in the winter, riding bikes. As the years passed by, Ringer witnessed that vibrancy fade away.
Later on, Ringer got a job as a carpenter, trekking to the suburbs to build homes. He recognized the stark differences between the houses there and the blighted and vacant ones in his hometown, but at the time, “never really had the skin in the game or the sphere of influence to help.”
In 2000, the year Comerica Park opened, and more than 1,000 abandoned houses in the city were security threats to kids, Ringer became a firefighter for the Detroit Fire Department.
“I wanted a career,” Ringer said. “I wanted to be part of my community.”
For nearly half his life—23 years—Ringer rescued people from burning houses. Firefighters were also dispatched to medical crises. Heart attacks. Seizures. Adults struggling to breathe. Children being born.
He spent most of his shifts in Cody Rouge, grateful for the neighborhood and the lessons he learned about empathy, the value of individual lives and the value of healthy homes.
Ringer was dedicated to serving those people in times of emergency.
“I made the point to go above and beyond,” he said.
Changemaker for the people
Even during his time as a firefighter, which added to his “passion and desire to be a changemaker within the city,” Ringer launched his own company in 2012.
To eradicate blight, Eco-Environmental Solutions reused and recycled materials found in vacant buildings in metro Detroit. He hired local residents to work at construction and demolition sites. Ringer said the company has since pivoted to abating lead and asbestos in homes.
Between home visits, Ringer has taught aspiring tradespeople.
Project N.O.A.H. (New Options Awaken Hope) is a program of Redeem Detroit, a nonprofit that serves young mothers. Rooted in a ministry of social justice, the program provides training in the skilled trades.
A mother can learn plumbing, electrical or carpentry skills. The energy management training is run in partnership with an energy solutions company headquartered in Detroit.
Ringer has trained over 60 mothers to become building analyst technicians.
Technicians, who must master scientific principles to inspect building systems and collect data, reduce energy waste and improve energy use. Their work can make homes healthier, like creating better air flow indoors.
Instructors strive to instill technical skills and the self-belief necessary to flourish in job sectors traditionally dominated by men. Other training perks encourage attendance: free rides to classes, daycare and a hot meal.
Upon passing the written and field tests, each mother earns a stipend, along with a professional credential.
“It’s a huge opportunity for them,” Ringer said.
Alonzo Bell, CEO of Redeem Detroit and pastor of Martin Evers Missionary Baptist Church, said some mothers are “passing their tests in the 90s” because of Ringer’s instruction.
Ringer is committed to his students. The pastor admires him for it.
“His consistency. His seriousness about his job. His passion. All of that makes for a good program,” said Bell, emphasizing the great lengths Ringer has gone to help mothers excel.
“He cares about them actually getting employed,” Bell said.
Bell describes Ringer as thoughtful and reliable. Inside the house of worship, he has delivered relatable lessons and patiently explained tough concepts. He used his pick up truck to haul materials to a testing site. He videotaped sessions for students who missed classes.
The pastor praised Ringer’s attendance record. He hasn’t forced Bell to scramble for another instructor at the last minute.
“He’s on time,” said Bell, noting Ringer’s altruism beyond the church’s walls. The knowledge he spreads. “He’s helping everywhere he can.”