The women of the Connecticut Mental Health Center and volunteer needlewomen from across the state have sewn more than 1,000 masks, and they aim to sew more in the days to come.
That’s the handiwork of what has come to be known as the 1,000 Masks Project.
Launched as a modest enterprise to outfit the nurses with some form of reusable personal protective equipment (PPE) early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the project quickly evolved into delivering masks to clients in the public mental health system in New Haven and beyond.
When CMHC Nursing Director Rebecca Wettemann approached art therapist Jessica Trzaska about designing a reusable face shield, their conversation led to another about sewing cloth face masks. But who in the CMHC community had sewing skills?
It turned out quite a few people did, including Sheila Stoner, mental health assistant on the CMHC inpatient unit and an avid quilter, and her sister Janet, an accomplished seamstress. The Stoner sisters helped determine patterns and durable designs, and the in-house team went to work.
“We quickly turned around 200,” Trzaska said. “Then we started to think about the whole building, and we decided to sew 500.”
The global pandemic has forced dramatic changes in public protocol, and in Connecticut and many other states, the wearing of masks in public places is now required by law. CMHC’s 4,000 clients, who live on the margins of society even in the best of times, are vulnerable to infection and less likely to have the resources to acquire masks on their own. As sufficient protections for CMHC staff fell into place, it became clear that clients would need help next.
When Michael J. Sernyak, MD, CEO of CMHC, reflected on the situation, his amateur historian wheels started to turn. He thought about the scrap iron drives of World War II, when millions of people donated metal for the building of war planes and ships. And about the early days of the Industrial Revolution, when materials were delivered to workers wherever they lived, instead of workers clocking in at a factory.
“It made everyone feel part of the effort,” he said of the scrap iron collection. “Most importantly, they were helping people who were bearing the brunt of the historical moment.”
Dr. Sernyak was excited about the staff’s accomplishment but knew that the sewers were pulling double duty by attending to clinical work while simultaneously trying to sew masks. At the same time, it occurred to him that when the Center went to minimal on-site staffing and many people began working from home, some staff were feeling isolated from the clinical mission. The mask project offered an opportunity for people to feel that connection again.
That’s where the early model of the Industrial Revolution served as his “pattern” of inspiration for how to reconnect people working from home to the clinical mission by delivering materials directly to the sewers. He said he randomly chose the goal of making 1,000 masks to give people something to strive for. They hit it out of the park.
“People responded so well and so quickly,” Sernyak said. “I’m just so grateful to everybody. When you think about it, there are over 1,000 people who wouldn’t have masks if not for these efforts.”
Sernyak tasked staff members Lucile Bruce and Kyle Pedersen with figuring out how to scale the original mask project up to make 1,000 masks in ten days. They consulted with Trzaska and sent out a call for help to CMHC staff and members of the Yale Psychiatry Department. Not only did people respond, they forwarded the request to friends and family members.
Margaret Dion-Marovitz, a longtime clinical research nurse for the Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, was one of those who enlisted her needle for the mask project. She learned to sew many years ago.
It gives us a sense of purpose to feel we’re actually doing something to help control the crisis.
Katherine Hsu Hagmann, community volunteer
“I have eight brothers and sisters, and I thought that it would be a good asset to have,” Dion-Marvoitz recalled. As a teenager, she took a summer class at the local Singer Sewing Center. It’s a skill she kept up into adulthood, making costumes for children and dresses for her daughter. But she hadn’t sewed much recently until her 60 masks for CMHC. Now, she’s got the bug again.
“It’s made me want to buy a new sewing machine,” she said. “I could make quilts—all kinds of things.”
Sewing the masks is not complicated, but Dion-Marvoitz said it takes a long time because of the attention to detail. And she applauded the brigade of volunteers who dropped off packages of materials to sewers like her, then picked up completed masks and transported them back to CMHC.
“It is a huge enterprise,” she said. “All l did was open packages, cut, and sew. There were clearly a lot of hours that went into the organizing.”
All of the volunteer sewers were women, but men had a role to play too. They signed up to drive materials to volunteers across Connecticut—including New Haven, Southbury, Old Lyme, Wallingford, Cheshire, Madison, Meriden, Southington, and even as far away as West Hartford and Granby.
The sewers smashed the initial 1,000 mask goal, churning out an additional 167 masks. The CMHC mask-making effort will soon complete its second drive, bringing the total number of masks to well over 2,000 sewn by more than 50 women.
Katherine Hsu Hagmann and her teenage daughter Naomi were among the community volunteers who aren’t affiliated with CMHC but who heard about the call for the first 1,000 masks. Hagmann is an attorney with Wiggin and Dana who represents health care providers.
She’s been sewing since she was her daughter’s age, but never saw her sewing as a useful hobby until now. Hagmann said even her 6-year-old helps by turning the masks inside-out. So far, they’ve made 104 masks and shared them with Yale-New Haven Hospital and CMHC.
“It’s been a great bonding experience for me and the kids,” Hagmann said. “We’re all in the room together working on a mask. It gives us a sense of purpose to feel we’re actually doing something to help control the crisis.”
“I just want to thank all the health care providers,” she added. “I work with them professionally as a lawyer and know how hard they work and how much they care about their patients.”
Her sentiment perfectly captures the community spirit that Dr. Sernyak knew was there. At a time where people could easily endeavor to look out only for themselves and their families, the mask-making project offers a way to help care for others. “It’s a concrete demonstration of what we do at CMHC for our clients, who often don’t have a lot of people who care about them.”
If you are interested in contributing to the CMHC mask-making effort, please email lucile.bruce@yale.edu.