Danielle Dirks operates several short-term rentals in Detroit near major hospitals through her business, CozyHaus. Traveling nurses and other medical professionals have long been a regular part of her clientele.

So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she decided to use her resources to help medical staff battling the disease, offering a 50% discount for medical workers who stay at her Detroit short-term rentals through a special program called CozyHaus Care.

The rentals offer medical personnel a safe haven where they can recharge after long, difficult days working at the hospitals, and these accommodations allow them to practice necessary social distancing from their loved ones in comfort.

Some of these workers are being denied housing because of infection fears, Danielle said, so it may be getting harder for medical staff to find a temporary place to stay that will allow them the self-care they need in order to serve their patients and keep themselves and their families safe.

“There is so much going on in the medical community right now. These helpers are risking their health and life and it should not be a struggle for them to find accommodations,” she said. “Given that we have these resources, if we can help, we should.”

She feels that with the right protocols, her medical-staff guests don’t present a higher risk than any other type of guest. She makes sure that her cleaning staff are well-informed and take all precautions possible to protect themselves and keep her properties sanitized — following the latest knowledge of how COVID-19 is spread and the measures necessary to prevent that. And she checks in with her staff every day to make sure they feel comfortable and to share updates on the process they should be following.

“You have to be pragmatic and take proper procedures to ensure the safety of your team and guests,” she said, “But in the end, I want to know that I’m doing the right thing, helping people who are on the front lines making sure this doesn’t last longer than it needs to. I hope that this is one step to restoring our community and our ecosystem,” she said.

Social Distancing Together

Along with the discounts for medical staff, Danielle offers her guests services that can help them navigate the reality of social distancing, including grocery delivery and valet parking. Her Detroit short-term rentals welcome pets and she will even help guests arrange for pet care.

She also offers a daily updated Instagram feed of favorite local restaurants that offer takeout and delivery, a way to help guests as well as small businesses that are struggling.

The restaurant scene in Detroit, as in many cities across the country, is extremely vulnerable, but Danielle said the city’s “hustle harder” mentality is alive and well in the crisis. These businesses are focusing on how to pivot to a new delivery system while keeping staff and customers safe.

“I really have to give it to the Detroit hospitality community right now. They have become so innovative and have been able to offer a smile throughout this,” she said.

Authentically Detroit

Danielle, who has offered short-term rentals in Detroit since 2017, is proud of the city’s “scrappy and supportive” spirit of entrepreneurship and authentic community connection.

At a time when Detroit’s economy was bleak and few hotels were offering visitors accommodations, short-term rentals offered a way for residents to make much-needed income — as well as an opportunity for visitors to discover the city.

Detroit offered a chance for people visiting from more prosperous areas of the country to “reimagine what their life could look like in the Midwest, in a city with relatively affordable housing,” where the creative class could create their own livelihood in a way that would simply be impossible elsewhere, Danielle said. In her eyes, short-term rentals have been instrumental in building the city.

When she started offering short-term rentals, Danielle said that she “didn’t really know that it would change my life in the way it has. It’s been really exciting to be able to invite people from all over the world to get to know Detroit.”

Danielle knows that times are tough for the short-term rental community right now. But she also is hopeful that the industry will come back stronger than ever after the crisis — and that they have much to contribute in the meantime.

“I think this is where our industry really has the opportunity to shine and give back to our communities in a meaningful way,” she said.

Danielle is one of many hosts across the nation that has stepped in to help amid the Covid crisis. See how hosts have helped out in other cities like Philadelphia.

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