MI 'Sewing Warriors' Make Over 9,500 Masks For Front-Line Workers
WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI — A group of "sewing warriors" from across the greater Detroit area has sewn over 9,500 masks since March for people working on the front lines in Michigan’s battle against the coronavirus.
The group, comprised of about a dozen women from the West Bloomfield area who work in a variety of fields, worked tirelessly upon learning of how the coronavirus was impacting health care systems in other states and wanted to do their part in preventing the same from happening in Michigan.
Priya Vennapusa, an IT worker at Blue Cross, Blue Shield, remembers seeing the situation unfold in New York and thought that if the coronavirus hits Michigan, hospitals and other medical facilities need to be prepared.
"I saw the news coverage of what was happening in New York of not having enough PPE and having so many patients, we didn't want that issue to come down to Michigan," Vennapusa told Patch. "We thought that if everyone was proactive, we could at least protect the people who were on the front lines."
Michigan, as it would turn out, would be deeply impacted by the coronavirus. The state has reported more than 60,000 cases of the coronavirus as of Thursday. Of those, more than 5,800 people have died from the virus. The numbers look grim but are actually trending in the right direction, as fewer new cases are reported each day.
The optimism has allowed state officials to remove some restrictions, and loosen others. In recent weeks, the state has begun reopening portions of its economy it had closed previously. First, construction workers and real estate businesses could reopen. Soon after, restaurants and bars were allowed to reopen to dine-in service. On Monday, barbershops and salons were able to reopen.
But when the coronavirus pandemic was just beginning, Michigan — and southeast Michigan in particular — was hit hard. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said at the time that about 80 percent of the state’s cases were reported in Oakland and Wayne counties.
Medical facilities in the area, inundated with an influx of patients suffering from the new coronavirus, saw essential medical supplies they had taken for granted running low. Facilities no longer possessed an abundance of items such as masks, surgical gowns, and gloves.
In April, Whitmer explained what was the harsh reality for front-line workers at the time: Some facilities were just days away from running out of some supplies completely.
“At Beaumont hospital, we have less than three days until N95 masks run out,” she said at the time. “At Henry Ford Health System we have less than four days, and at the Detroit Medical Center, less than 10 days. At all three health systems, there are less than three days until face shields run out, and less than six days until surgical gowns run out.”
That’s where the Sewing Warriors of Detroit Suburbs came in.
Sandhya Shankar helped bring the group together, and now they have sewn over 9,500 masks and donated them to front-line workers. Each mask would take about 15 minutes to make, Vennapusa said, using new cotton bed sheets, elastic and home-sewn ties as materials. Everyone in the group would make as many as they could for about a week before masks were collected, boxed up and donated to a facility.
The team began by contacting area hospital administrations, who at first said that they could not accept the homemade masks due to liability concerns.
"But there were other people who reached out to us and said they are (accepting them),"Vennapusa said. "People in individual departments, they found out on a small scale that there were a few people sewing and responded saying they did (need masks)."
The group donated to facilities based out of communities across southeast Michigan. They delivered 300 masks to six medical facilities during the first week. In over eight weeks, the group has grown to over 45 volunteers as their effort began collaborating with other groups, some from Novi, Troy, Detroit and Clawson.
Community members who learned of their efforts helped by donating supplies and, in some cases, money to buy supplies.
Eventually, as the curve of coronavirus cases in Michigan began to flatten, other personal protective equipment donations from federal programs were provided to workers and supplies at Detroit-area hospitals leveled out. It was then that Vennapusa and company turned to other medical facilities, such as nursing homes.
"What I did is I called every single senior center (near West Bloomfield), and I said, 'Do you guys need masks?'" Vennapusa said. "At first they said no, but then they thought about it and said, 'Well, our residents don't have any.'"
Vennapusa said the group called around and asked how many residents facilities had, then the group provided them with double the amount of residents so each one had two masks to wear. Now, residents in many nursing homes and healthcare facilities have masks when they go for daily walks outside the facility or with others.
The need for homemade masks seems to have decreased, with Michigan seeing low daily numbers of new coronavirus cases reported. But as more businesses reopen and health officials warn of a potential second wave, Vennapusa said it's a time to be hopeful but cautious.
"Everything in moderation, that's always been my policy," she said. "We need to do what we can to support the small businesses. But I think everyone should be wearing a mask, everyone should wash their hands more often."
This article originally appeared on the Detroit Patch
