DMC Community Ambassadors Barbara and Clifton Epps

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arbara Epps received a letter in the spring of 2015 inviting her to a dinner to learn more about the DMC Community Ambassador Program.

"This was when the program was just getting off the ground," she recalls. "I've been with them ever since."

From the city's east side to its west side, Epps has been talking up the Healthy Michigan Plan among family members, friends and even strangers.

"I've talked to at least 50 people about it," she estimates.

Epps is excited that a woman with whom she has recently interacted at the local community center is going to include Epps' message about the Healthy Michigan Plan in an email to 3,000 regular visitors to the center.

Epps is no stranger to helping those in need. Retired from the Detroit Police Department, where she regularly instructed school children on traffic safety, Epps is also a local volunteer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I know how to talk to people," she says. "I recruit people in everything I do."

These skills extend to her husband Clifton, whom she has also recruited into the Community Ambassador Program.

"I talk to people all day, every day," she says. "People tell me to call their nieces and nephews. I like to get information out to people who need it so they know what to do when something happens."

That includes seniors with whom she walks the Detroit RiverWalk on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During these walks as with all her daily activities, Epps keeps the Healthy Michigan Plan front of mind.

"I talk to people I don't even know," she says.