Reporting by Nina Joss from her home in Plymouth, Michigan.

Located in the greater Detroit area, on the western edge of Wayne County, Plymouth is a small town defined by its friendly family atmosphere. Its town center features restaurants ranging from an Irish pub to a fancy Italian grill, along with many local shops. A central park with a beautiful fountain is the perfect place for children to make wishes on pennies, not far from the $3 local movie theatre and the town’s most popular ice cream shop, Dairy King.

Plymouth’s sense of community is based around its neighborhoods, where neighbors are friends and kids safely play on tree-lined streets. With a well-recognized public school system and new gastropubs and breweries popping up in town, Plymouth is gaining population and living up to its motto: “The village of homes.”

As Detroit has quickly become one of the US hotspots of COVID-19, the community of Plymouth has certainly been affected. Stay-at-home orders from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer went into effect on March 23rd, and the town shut down. During a normal springtime, Downtown Plymouth would be brimming with couples going out for date nights, friends meeting up for drinks and families going to enjoy open-air concerts in the park. Now, the streets are quieter—but not completely.

The weight of this crisis rests on the community as it sees the numbers rise rapidly, yet people here have maintained their spirit. Friendly waves across the street, socially distant walks in the neighborhoods and children’s paintings of rainbows in windows embody a place that sticks together, even in the darkest of times.