Danielle Green has spent her life in an uphill fight to help her town of Flint, Mich. overcome poverty. The water crisis that has thrown Flint into the national spotlight has set back those efforts — and hit even closer to home, as her own mother has tested positive for lead poisoning.

She wasn’t sure who she was going to vote for before sitting down with Bernie Sanders on Feb. 15 — but after seeing his "compassion and sincerity" up close she was won over.

"I just like what he stands for, equality. And he has compassion," Green, whose mother tested positive for lead poisoning, told me. "When we went in to speak with him. It was he and his wife. They were both extremely concerned and sympathetic about our situation."

Green said she showed Sanders and his wife, Jane, a photo of urine-colored water inside of her mother’s washing machine. Their faces wrinkled in disgust, she remembered.

"There is a compassion and sincerity about him wanting to get something done and that’s close to my heart,” Green said. "I’m a Bernie Sanders fan all of the way. He definitely has my vote because I can see the sincerity in him and in his wife. And that’s what we need: someone who is sincere."

After the meeting, Sanders said that he had not realized "how ugly and how horrible and how terrible" the situation in Flint is.

Now, he talks about the meeting to supporters, time and again.

The plight of Flint, a poor city plagued by aging infrastructure and declining population, has taken center stage on the campaign trail. Hillary Clinton traveled there in the run-up to the New Hampshire primary, calling the city’s contaminated water supply and the delayed response to it "not merely unacceptable or wrong" and "immoral." And both Clinton and Sanders frequently express their outrage over the city's lead-polluted water.

The two Democrats will debate off in Flint on March 6, two days before Michigan's March 8 primary.

So far, among Michigan's black voters — 14 percent of the state's population, Clinton holds a wide advantage. She also has a double-digit lead in the state.

Paul Kanan, the press secretary for Michigan's Democratic Party, told me it's not clear whether the water crisis would lift Clinton or Sanders' chances at winning the nomination. But he said interest in the debate has been overwhelming.

"As soon as I start the workday, bright and early, all the way to 3 o’clock in the morning," Kanan said. "People just want to be there."

Some residents hope the national attention the debate draws will force local politicians to act swiftly on helping people exposed to lead poisoning.

"It’s going to be important that the next [president] who is going to carry on for the next four years will have our best interests at heart," DeWaun Robinson, a community activist and Sanders supporter in Flint, said. "Not just trying to get some votes. Not just trying to come around when they need us, but ultimately be there for the long haul."

Oakland J. Mixin, a longtime Flint resident who owns a retail clothing business in the city, said he won't vote for either Democratic candidate but is optimistic the debate will give locals an opportunity to learn who can help them with the water crisis, if elected to the White House.

"People are looking for a solution outside of themselves," Mixon said. “So with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders and what they represent as far as presidential candidates going into office making promises, having plans and policies and things that can impact Flint, people are looking forward to what they have to say."

Green said that while Flint isn't the only struggling city in America, she was glad he was looking out for her hometown.

"He said, ‘I am not making any promises but there are some things that I will do.’ So, that is what we’re looking forward to," she said.