I don't know when I first heard the word COVID. I think it was a news article about an outbreak overseas, but it was hard to grasp the gravity of the situation. There had been SARS, H1N1, Swine flu, Ebola outbreaks and yet, nothing significant happened here in the US. But then cases started to appear in the US and quarantine measures were put in place. I read an article about a hospital in Iowa looking for volunteers to make masks.
Thursday, March 19. My friend Jeanelle makes a post on Facebook offering nurse friends cotton masks if they need them. Since I sew too, Jeanelle and I get into a discussion about hospitals around the country reaching out for masks. We wonder if hospitals in RI need some masks. We discuss fabric types and designs, and since Jeanelle works for Lifespan, she reaches out to them to set up a meeting.
I make a muslin prototype based on what I think will be a quick and easy pattern using inexpensive materials. I don't want to make more than just one because, as I tell Jeanelle, "If we make 30 or so and they say they don't want them, then we're stuck with them." I later had a good laugh looking back at that sentence.
Friday, March 20. Jeanelle, a Lifespan representative, and I meet outside of Hasbro Hospital. Jeanelle's husband admonishes us to stay outside "just to be on the safe side."
Lifespan looks at our prototype and asks about the volume we can produce. Jeanelle and I, both avid crafters, wink at each other and tell the Lifespan representative that crafters, when motivated, are a force of nature. We conclude the meeting with Lifepan saying they'll run it by the infection control department and some others, and get back to us by Monday. I honestly expect Lifespan to say, "This is nice, but no thank you." To my surprise, Jeanelle calls me back at 3 PM. Lifespan wants her to come back to the hospital and pick up some fabric. This raised my eyebrows. I didn't think the response would be this quick. So Jeanelle goes back to Hasbro and picks up 40+ yards of fabric. Lifespan tells her the design they want as well as requesting no metal nose pieces and non-latex elastic for the ear pieces.
Jeanelle goes back home and sets up a Facebook page and SewHopeSNE is born. We both start asking around to see who would be interested in a little mask-making project. From Friday afternoon on, it is a flurry of activity to figure out how to dole out the fabric, get the correct pattern posted, clarify if we are to use nose wires or not, if ties could be used instead of elastic, etc. By Friday evening, we have about two dozen volunteers. By Saturday evening, we have an informal distribution system, have distributed all but 4 yards of the Lifespan fabric, and have a roster of 166 volunteers. We are non-stop on Facebook making sure everyone understands the specifications, and then monitoring the requests to volunteer and the subsequent communications on the board. At some point in this time frame, volunteer Kimberly joins with us, and brings with her a large group of sewists from the Barrington/East Bay area.
An early issue we are not prepared for was dealing with the myriad of people's responses. Most of our requests for volunteers are answered positively. But some folks are upset at the idea of donating stuff to hospitals they think are already well funded. They also feel the hospitals should be responsible for all the material outlay: thread and needles in addition to the fabric (for the record, Lifespan and Care New England are both non-profit organizations). We also have people new to sewing asking if they can help. It quickly becomes apparent as the epidemic takes hold that there is just no time to help someone learn how to make a mask. Either you can sew decently, or we can find you something else to do.
Even once we have people sewing, we have a few folks come into the group not realizing there is already a course of action in place. Jeanelle and I had made clear on our group page that we were given a specific design and a specific fabric. Yet we still get folks who are like, "Hey can I show you my mask design? I'm selling them for $20!" Or people post, "I'm a doctor and these masks are not safe." In normal times, this is absolutely true, but it soon becomes apparent we are no longer in normal times. It is particularly frustrating when someone posts, "I have 15 prototypes going to a large RI hospital today to determine which design and which nose piece is best. I’m meeting with a doctor shortly and will update."
We keep having to reiterate that we have been given our instructions from Lifespan itself, and the crisis is growing such that yes, we are having to resort to homemade masks. Some comments feel like they only serve to distract us from the established course of action.
Sunday, March 22. We are not even in operation two days before we realize the need for people dedicated to monitoring the Facebook group conversations to make sure the right information goes out. With so many new people wanting to volunteer every day, I literally have a Word document that I copy/paste four answers from since I am repeating myself so much. Jeanelle and I press two good friends, Kristin and Gail, into service to help answer questions (Kristin and Gail, though not sewists, ended up wearing a whole bunch of different hats during this project). When the governor announces that cotton face masks will not be used, it takes most of the day to convince the volunteers that our project is different in that it is commissioned by the hospital.
By the evening, we have a formal fabric distribution process with 10 area coordinators throughout the state.
One of our first page banners
Monday, March 23. After a hectic weekend getting SewHopeSNE up and running, Jeanelle and I deliver the first batch of 371 masks. We are pretty pleased with our weekend's accomplishments, but the celebration is short lived when Lifespan gives us bags and bags of more fabric, enough to fill my car trunk and Jeanelle's! So back home we go to get the fabric to our area coordinators to distribute. Almost immediately, non-latex elastic becomes hard to find. So we have to switch to using grosgrain ribbon, twill tape, bias tape, and even making our own fabric ties.
Tuesday, March 24. We have grown to 317 members and as such, Jeanelle and I have to find more people to serve as moderators, to help answer questions, and monitor the group conversation. As volunteers pour in, it is fun seeing the community connections: my high school classmate volunteers, as does the speech therapist my son had 10 years ago. People also start using the group page to swap info. One person offers to lend a sewing machine to anyone who wants to sew. People jump in to help answer sewing questions, or provide shortcuts and hacks. Folks post pictures of their kids and spouses pitching in. We have people from as far away as Illinois joining just to see if they can network. One volunteer, Keri, makes us an infographic of the mask pattern so people can see what it should look like versus reading a bunch of instructions.
But there is also a whole new level of personnel management issues as we grow. We have someone volunteering to sew but also asking people to donate money to her, and we have folks constantly suggesting different ties or mask designs without understanding we have to stay within the hospital's specifications (no, paracord is not a good mask tie alternative). There are a few times my kids are put to work seam ripping because of quality control issues. And we still get some folks who post, "I'm a doctor and these masks are not ok!"
Wednesday, March 25. By this time, the pandemic is full-on in our state and we're starting to get non-hospital requests for masks. Jeanelle sets up a spreadsheet to keep track of all the requests, and this is after telling folks that we're just focused on medical workers, nursing homes, and first responders. Elastic is so hard to find that people are referring to it as "unobtainium." Even outlets like Amazon cannot supply us in the timeframe we need.
Hospital staff start joining the group desperately looking for the masks we are making, but we can't tell them when hospital administrators will be rolling them out. While we make a point to only sew for medical workers, nursing homes, and first responders, we make an exception when one of our volunteers, Kim, works a deal with Edesia: if we can give their staff cotton masks to use in their production, then Edesia can donate their stash of N95s to the hospitals. Another volunteer, Kim C., gets a local yacht club workshop to donate their masks to the hospitals.
Friday, March 27. A local church, Stone Coast Community Church, reaches out to us to see how they can help. They offer money for supplies, but we can't even buy the supplies as stores are selling out of elastic and grosgrain ribbon. Over the next few weeks, there is a frustration in that we would make a request of the church, but it takes time for them to respond. But the demands placed on SewHope are picking up speed, so a request we made yesterday is no longer valid the next day, and the church is left wondering, did we change our minds? It's hard to communicate to others the speed at which events are unfolding. There is literally no time to think about stuff. However, Stone Coast does set us up with a way for people to make monetary donations, which becomes very helpful to us later when we are able to actually make purchases.
A bit of celebration amidst this frustration is our first nursing home request is fulfilled courtesy of a SewHopeSNE sub-group formed by volunteer Ann.
Saturday, March 28. Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo issues a stay at home order that includes no non-essential travel. So we switch to using dedicated drivers to deliver the fabric. SewHopeSNE is deluged with requests, coming to us not only from within Rhode Island but from Massachusetts and New York, which is struggling mightily. How do we prioritize the requests? What about requests from individual departments within the hospitals? We want to say yes to everyone but we physically do not have the time or resources to do so.
The governor's office projects the "peak infection rate" to occur mid April. We are also projected to have 848 deaths by August. Sadly, we actually ended up with 1,030 by August 23.
Sunday, March 29. RI Monthly reaches out to us for an interview. I had never considered what we are doing worthy of an interview, but Jeanelle and I do one via Zoom. We both end the interview wondering if we have just made our lives more complicated.
Care New England, a consortium of the remaining medical facilities not in the Lifespan network, reaches out to Jeanelle and is now on the request list. And after days of telling people to please use Lifespan fabric only, Lifespan announces they will be accepting cotton masks. The University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology designs an N95 mask alternative using Halyard fabric which was already used in hospitals. It’s kind of a cross between fabric and paper. Folks start mentioning using Halyard for their personal masks, but this material, too, is becoming increasingly hard to get, and is costly.
Monday, March 30. This marks our second week in production and Jeanelle, Kimberly, and I drop off 1,788 masks at Hasbro Hospital. Our RI Monthly article is published and another reporter reaches out to us for a story. While tensions are high over the pandemic, there are bright spots like the group of sewists from Prudence Island who mail in their masks to us. Or the metal fabricators who offer free nose pieces for the non-hospital masks. Even personally, there are little blessings: someone orders a knit hat off my Etsy site. Wrapped up in mask production, I send him a note saying I will return his money because I don’t have time to knit. I give him the SewHopeSNE link to show what we are working on. The buyer responds with, "No worries. Just keep the money and put it towards supplies for the project or a meal or whatever helps. Good Luck!" Moments like this will carry me through the pandemic.
Tuesday, March 31. By this time we are growing by leaps and bounds, both in the number of volunteers and the number of mask requests. Jeanelle and I are so overwhelmed with sewing and administration, we're reaching out to other churches and organizations for any volunteer help they can give us. I'm frustrated that most pastors I reach out to want to put me in contact with their outreach or community coordinators. I don't know how to communicate the pace at which this project is unfolding and that I don't have time to wait for an email response from the church's outreach or community coordinator. I needed the help yesterday. Finally I reach out to my friend, Esther, from Christ Reformed Presbyterian Church, and within five minutes I have four emails from people asking, "How do I help?"
Jeanelle and I also start discussing making Halyard fabric masks, the N95 alternative developed by the University of Florida Department of Anesthesiology. Jeanelle has been contacted by someone who wants to try this new design. We have to think about whether this is something we want to even consider given what is currently on our plate. Who do we even tap for this task?
Wednesday, April 1. Not only are we continuing to grow in volunteers and requests, but the SewHopeSNE Facebook group page is starting to become a swap-meet of sorts; sewists looking for ideas, and people looking for donations. The SewHopeSNE page is becoming a resource in and of itself. We're also starting to see who we can task with specialized projects. And we have an entire retirement community approach us offering to sew!
Thursday, April 2. The Warwick Beacon writes a piece on SewHopeSNE’s efforts. We set up a spreadsheet of area coordinators with assigned delivery drivers. The dedicated delivery drivers are a God-send! I am especially pleased with the set-up we create in Providence. People make requests which the Providence area coordinator, Brigida, puts on a delivery schedule. The schedule is a Google spreadsheet shared with the designated driver, Megan, who uses Google Earth to create an efficient delivery route. Everything is communicated and shared over the internet to cut down on contact and possible virus transmission. The technology combined with the volunteers' skill set makes for a well oiled machine.
Friday, April 3. We're getting so organized that when one new member wants to know who her local coordinator is and we ask her location, she says, "Albuquerque." Even better was the comment from another new member, "I am not local, but this group is way more helpful." However, Ryco, one of our favorite supply stores, is completely out of grosgrain ribbon and elastic as is every other store in driving distance. People are literally going through their grandmother's sewing supplies looking for materials.
We've gotten up to six people moderating the group page, tasked with keeping the information current, shutting down trolls, and answering questions.
One of our volunteers, Patti, is interviewed for ABC6 evening news on TV.
Saturday, April 4. We've now started receiving requests for scrub caps and are still having nurses reach out to us asking when the Lifespan masks are rolling out. It's at once gratifying that we're helping make a difference, and frustrating that we're having to field some of these questions. Despite being close to 900 volunteers, including some professional sewists--home decor people, fashion people, etc.--we're still reaching out to anyone who knows how to sew and being met with the same leisurely responses like, "Well let me check around..." Despite being under the thumb of COVID for a month by this point, sometimes I feel like we're the only ones who get the sense of urgency.
Friday, April 5. People start asking sewists in our group if they can sew for their mask group. And then there's a mask request that might be coming from the National Guard. I always thought the National Guard was who you called when your own resources were inadequate. When the Guard is reaching out to us, I have to wonder just how big this problem is. This is where I feel fear for the first time.
Monday, April 6. We drop off 3,508 masks to Lifespan, and they give us more fabric. I hear from a plumber friend that the state has requested the National Guard to repurpose three sites into overflow hospitals. A metal fabricator in Connecticut offers free metal nose pieces for masks. Within hours they're inundated with requests, but other metal shops in New England start pitching in as well.
We are two weeks into our project. We have established a network of area coordinators, schedulers, drivers, and sewists and we are overseeing mask making for the Lifespan and Care New England network of hospitals, individual hospital department requests, getting the Halyard mask production going, and making cotton masks for the homeless and nursing homes, as well as fielding requests from other organizations. As Jeanelle's husband points out, we've literally created a full blown manufacturing company in two weeks.
Tuesday, April 7. At this point, I ask anyone who has a pulse if they can sew even half-way decent, and/or if they, or anyone else they know, have fabric, needles, thread, grosgrain ribbon, or elastic. I'm pretty sure Jeanelle has single handedly bought out the grosgrain inventory from a local store to keep our production going. One friend from my pirate crew has a mother who is an avid quilter. I reach out to her and end up with 92 yards of fabric from her.
Wednesday, April 8. WarwickOnline.com publishes an article about SewHope
Thursday, April 9. I meet with Dr. N from Rhode Island Hospital. She and another doctor have spent their own funds acquiring Halyard material for us to try and sew with. I give her two prototypes I made following the University of Florida specifications with a run down of the pros and cons of producing each. It's hard to contain my anger with some COVID deniers when a doctor is willing to drive to my house just to look at masks. Meanwhile, Jeanelle and Stone Coast set up a partnership with the Barrington and Kent County YMCAs in order to produce the Care New England masks quicker, since our current roster of sewists already have such a long list to deal with. Perhaps one of my favorite posts is that someone's mom came to visit them from South America and mom wanted to help out. While most of us thought we were accomplished getting 20 out on our modern Bernina machines, this volunteer's mom knocked out 100 masks. On one of those antique black and gold Singer machines.
Friday, April 10. The hospitals won't officially approve the Halyard masks. However, since Dr. N says some folks still want them for personal use, we start looking for someone to take this project on. Again, we reach out to some people and get the non-urgent "we'll think about it" answer. I feel given the setting of a "peak infection" time of mid April, we kind of have an urgent deadline. The flip side to this is we have 1,144 volunteers sewing and we're starting to have people coming onto the group page to thank us for the masks they're getting. This constant push-pull of frustration and being amazed by people's generosity has become a daily thing.
On the group page, volunteers vent their frustration with the curbside pick ups at JoAnns and other craft stores. I feel bad for the employees there. One week they're minimum wage workers getting discount supplies for their hobby, the next week they are an essential cog in a machine that is helping to save the world.
Monday, April 13. We drop off 2,493 masks at LifeSpan for a total of 8,160 since we started March 20th. We also receive back the first batch of masks that has gone through the hospital's industrial washing machines. We see what happens to alternative tie materials. Once again, my children are pressed into service, seam ripping the salvageable ones. I pay them in milkshakes.
Wednesday April 15. I now have in my possession three boxes of Halyard material representing about $300+ in material. We ask volunteer Patti, who runs West Side Sewing Studio, to work up a simple scrub cap pattern as that is starting to become a need as well.
Thursday, April 16. After reaching out to folks for material donations (since we can't find places to buy them from) I get a whole bunch of grosgrain ribbon and another 95 yds of fabric from Betty's mom. With materials being hard to find, this donation is like hitting the jackpot. A while back, a doctor reached out to us looking for help in a mask-making project using a slightly more complicated pattern, but we were so busy with the hospital masks, we were not able to make any progress on her Special Mask Project. With such a windfall of fabric, Jeanelle and I consider sending it to volunteer Marc to sew up for the Special Mask Project. He's a professional high-end tailor, yet making masks and gowns for a hospice. He agrees to sew some masks for the Special Mask Project for free. Meanwhile, another of our sewists, Jacki, single handedly takes on a 150 mask request.
Monday, April 20. Our one month anniversary! We are now sewing hospital masks, cotton masks, caps, and doing repairs on masks, in addition to trying to get the Special Mask Project and the Halyard Project up and running. So not only did we create a mask production company, but we've added additional product lines since we opened shop four weeks ago. Some of our sewists post about how fabric and elastic searches have consumed their lives, and how entire rooms have been commandeered for mask making. People report thread tumbleweeds in their homes. Despite all this, most are happy to be able to help, to have a purpose during an anxious time. We drop off 2,743 masks for a cumulative total of 10,903 masks.
When we drop off masks, Lifespan finally says that's enough. I'm shocked. Given the amount of fabric they kept feeding us, it has felt like we were going to keep going until we made a mask for every Rhode Islander. But while the mask making is put on hold, Lifespan now needs gowns repaired. Apparently RI Hospital has only two seamstresses on staff to repair all the gowns. Jeanelle recruits a friend, Kate, to head up the Gown Repair Team.
Tuesday, April 21. Jeanelle and I decide that I'm going to pick some of our more prolific sewists and form a Halyard team. We also discover the Special Mask Project seemed to be the doctor's pet project so we decide to put a halt to administering this one and just post a general "request for sewing volunteers" on our board. We also roll out the new SewHope SNE banner designed by my husband, Justin.
Thursday, April 24. People on Block Island are sewing and mailing in stuff! And now we have the big task of gathering up all the leftover Lifespan fabric in its various states (full sheets, half cut sheets, already cut rectangles, half sewn masks, etc.). Dr. N picks up our first load of 108 Halyard masks.
Tuesday, April 28. While we are done with our main Lifespan request for masks, we still have a long list of requests for cotton masks as well as scrub caps and gown repairs. And the list of requests keeps growing. Meanwhile, a profile of SewHopeSNE in ProvidenceOnline.com says, "...SewHopeSNE, has brought together local sewers, making a jaw-dropping impact." Ryco, a local sewing supply shop, announces in the evening they have elastic to sell, but only in 10 yard increments. By the morning, they are sold out.
Thursday April 30. At some point, someone voices a concern that one volunteer is asking for a lot of materials. We moderators wonder what is she doing with all that stuff? Using our donated materials to sell masks? Then we realize she's able to sew up A LOT. We repent of our misconception and envy her sewing acumen.
Friday, May 1. Jeanelle assembles a team of sewists who make 35 gowns out of Tyvek, which are presented to an EMS team. A catering company donates a huge amount of old tablecloths that we can cut up into scrub caps and masks. Dr. H stops by to collect an additional 143 Halyard masks. As a token of gratitude, Dr. N takes up a collection to buy Jeanelle and me some really pretty flowers. This is in addition to one volunteer dropping off chocolates for me and another bringing home made hand cream. It sounds trite, but little tokens like this really warm my heart.
Saturday, May 9. A Sheet Metal Workers' International Union worker drives 1,000 nose pieces down from Dorchester to my house so we can continue to make the Halyard masks.
Tuesday, May 12. Late this evening, my son William has an epileptic seizure. He has never had one before so this comes out of nowhere for us and as such, is quite a scare. When the EMTs see the pile of masks on my dining room table, I mention the SewHopeSNE efforts and they thank me for the work. But then they tell us no one can go to the hospital with my son because of COVID restrictions. This worries me because my son is unconscious and will wake up in the hospital not knowing what's happening or how he got there. I ask the EMT if, once he gets to the ER, he can ask if Dr. N or Dr. H is on that evening. Within 30 minutes, Dr. H calls me to say she has checked on him and everything is ok. I will be forever grateful for her putting us at ease like this.
Wednesday, May 13. This is one of the things I love about the SewHope group: up until now, most of our fabric is floral or light colors. But we have requests come in for more "guy colors." So one of our volunteers, Lorraine, donates a huge stash of sports-themed fabric. We hand this off to another volunteer, Kim, who sews professionally, so she manages to knock out 73 caps in a day. People's generosity with their time and resources make life in a pandemic bearable. In addition to the LifeSpan and Care New England network of hospitals, we've managed to help 50+ organizations so far.
Thursday, May 21. News outlets on social media report on the struggle the Navajo Nation is experiencing as they have little in resources to address the pandemic with. Having sewn up 649 Halyard masks for Drs. N and H, I ask them if we can use some of the Halyard they bought to make masks for the Navajo Nation. In true Rhode Island fashion, Dr. N "knows a guy," a doctor working on a reservation who we can ship the masks directly to. So we put together a Navajo Nation Halyard team.
Friday, May 22. SewHopeSNE has taken on so many tasks that we now have multiple "teams." For example, a small request for 150 masks comes in from a Brown University medical intern working with elderly refugees from West Africa. Like the Mission: Impossible TV show, I call up two sewists and together the three of us knock out the task in one week. We have Team Halyard, the Navajo Nation Halyard Team, the gown repair team, and many more. Jeanelle is nothing short of remarkable in managing most of these teams.
Thursday, May 28. As difficult as it is dealing with life in a pandemic, SewHopeSNE is such a point of hope. We had originally committed to 100 Halyard masks for the Navajo Nation, but the SewHopeSNE volunteers knock out 204. Dr. N pays for the postage to send the three boxes out to Arizona. I really can’t be more grateful to be part of such a giving group of people.
Wednesday, June 17. By this point, the manic production of masks has subsided to a calmer flow of producing masks and scrub caps. Fabric stores only just now are able to keep elastic in stock, but even then, it's rationed out. Certain colors of fabric are also rationed or just nowhere to be found. Then the governor announces schools will be re-opening so I reach out to Julie Slater of the Alfred Lima Elementary School in Providence. It's located in an underserved community and she said they could definitely use masks for September. Faith Community Church volunteers to pay for the fabric.
Wednesday, June 24. I put out a request for volunteers to make masks for the Lima School. Within hours, 51 people volunteer to help me out and Team Lima is formed. I purchase 60 yards of fabric and we're off into production with a goal of 550 masks.
Thursday, July 30. A friend calls and asks if I want some leftover fabric from a facility that's not conducting sewing classes any more. I go and pick up 40 yards of free kid-themed fabric! Perfect for all the other kid mask requests that have started to come in.
Wednesday, August 26. In true SewHopeSNE fashion, I asked for help in making 550 masks yet I end up delivering 959 masks to the Alfred Lima Elementary School in three sizes for the kids and staff. They are made by 24 sewing volunteers. We produce bags with masks, extra elastic with plastic needles to thread the elastic, and four volunteers make 210 crocheted ear savers to go along with the masks. Prudence Island Quilters mail in yet another batch of masks. They've been doing so since almost the beginning.
Thursday, August 27. Rhode Island Monthly magazine announces its Annual Editors' Pick Awards and SewHopeSNE wins best Community Volunteer Group. Jeanelle and I watch the "Awards Celebration" over the internet.
Wednesday, September 2. With the help of 4 volunteers, I am able to deliver 117 SewHope masks to the Robert F. Kennedy Middle School.
Friday, October 16. One of our volunteers posts a picture of one of our LifeSpan masks "in the wild" (in use by a medical technician). It's nice to see our handiwork put to use.
Thursday, November 5. I reach out to the doctors who bought the Halyard material and ask what they would like done with the extra sitting in boxes in my living room. We decide to reach out to the Navajo Nation again and end up sending them an additional 202 masks.
The new year 2021 sees SewHopeSNE is still making scrub caps and masks. Even with a dramatic slow down in PPE production, the SewHopeSNE Facebook page is still active with people swapping tips, offering up sewing supplies, sewing machines for sale, other volunteer and employment opportunities, and updates on COVID statistics for the state. People even post craft ideas for all the empty thread spools and fabric scraps, and sewing puns are on the board now.
So here we are at the one year anniversary of SewHope SNE, and 20,000+ masks later. I won't lie, it's been both lovely to reminisce about the people we worked with and what we accomplished, and slightly triggering to revisit the early days of the pandemic when we didn't know how it would play out. But it's still a source of comfort that despite all the uncertainty in those early pandemic days, there were so many who readily helped in whatever capacity they could. So many people used up the entirety of their personal fabric and thread supply. So many hours of skilled labor (and family help) went into masks that were just given away, no compensation expected. Thousands of tips, tricks and hacks for sewing, techniques, helpful tools, and machine repair tips were shared. All the hours of ancillary help provided by the drivers, area coordinators, and group moderators without whom we could have never accomplished what we did. It is amazing what a little concern and cooperation got done. And I'm honored and grateful to have been a part of it.
