Photos provided Rixie Lowden, master seamstress Healing Stitches teacher, and Lucy Garcia, MSW Healing Stitches founder, are fighting on the front lines of the war against COVID-19

Pine Islander Nancy Cote, a resource specialist with the United Way, has joined a team of women in the Healing Stitches Program, who are fighting on the front lines of the war against COVID-19.

A shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) for medical personnel is sweeping the nation in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. One item topping the list of necessities for healthcare workers is face masks.

According to the Center for Disease Control guidelines for healthcare practitioners regarding face masks include:

* The face mask should be removed and discarded if soiled, damaged, or hard to breathe through.

* HCP must take care not to touch their face mask. If they touch or adjust their face mask they must immediately perform hand hygiene.

* HCP should leave the patient care area if they need to remove the face mask.

Because of these strict policies regarding the safety of facemasks, the condition of the healthcare industry has become a growing concern with each passing day of this worldwide pandemic. By decreasing the risk of infection to healthcare workers, first responders, and anyone out in front of this virus, it’s a reasonable assessment that everyone working to supply PPE is saving countless lives.

“Healing Stitches works directly with U Visa recipients,” said Cote.

U Visa is a program for women who have been victims of domestic violence or human trafficking and are awarded status as a result.

“It’s really Lucy’s girls,” Cote said. “Lucy Garcia runs the program here. She teaches women how to sew so they can become self-sufficient. We reached out to Lucy and asked if these women would be interested in helping sew if we could get the materials together.”

Photos provided A couple of the finished masks.

Healing Stitches is one of the many successful programs run through the Beacon of Hope on Pine Island. Cote explained that they are set up to receive donations and once the masks are sewn together, they are then given first to local healthcare professionals, and also non-profit workers.

“Any material donations we have, I cut,” said Cote. “That’s my only skill I can’t sew. I cut the material, I wash and iron it and then give it to Lucy. That makes it easier for Lucy’s girls to pump out the masks. Right now we have a little stall because it’s really hard to find the elastic – it’s like the golden egg in this whole thing.”

According to Cote, the team is waiting on elastic and string to arrive in order to make another production. In her 10-plus years on the island, Cote has witnessed countless altruistic acts leading her to find her role in this, connecting the people necessary to carry out this vital project.

“A lot of Lee Health employees live out here,” Cote said. “Also, a lot of non-profit workers live out here. We run into each other out on the mainland but we all get tied back here and I know, I know they need masks, even if their employers don’t want to say anything, we know they need them. They’re reaching out to us and we’re just happy we can provide them the donated goods. “We’re not charging the first responders so that’s why we’re taking donations to help with that because a lot of us are purchasing materials or purchasing goods separately and then all the donations can go directly to purchase needed materials to get to the girls, who are donating their time,” she continued. “Being recipients of the U Visa, they’ve had interactions with social workers and healthcare professionals who’ve helped them on their journey. Lucy and the girls feel like they’re really able to give back – like it’s come full circle and now they’ve been given a chance to help the people who’ve helped them.”

Garcia, the founder of the Healing Stitches program, also works for Hope Hospice and is a trained social worker as well, Cote explained, adding that although she is a community resource specialist for the United Way herself, she and Garcia have teamed up to do this apart from their regular employment, because they saw the need and felt compelled to connect people where they were needed.

Sewing a mask together.

In addition to the eight people on the Healing Stitches team, Cote said there are approximately 10 others on Pine Island, either cutting metal for the nose, cutting material like Cote or actually doing the sewing, which, she explained, is being done, at this time, in their own residences.

“Once they get the product to us we disinfect it individually, wrap it and give it to people,” said Cote. “The bulk of the production comes from Healing Stitches, but on the island there are women who are saying ‘I have this material now’ and are dropping it off at our sites, one in St. James City, one in Bokeelia and also in Cape Coral.

“It’s beautiful to see people on the island that have nothing else they can do, but they can cut or sew or they can donate,” she continued. “It’s a beautiful thing to see that when we’re all concerned, the island comes together to help. This is such a big cause — a big need.”

Due to the complexity of the materials necessary to make the masks, Cote said each item takes time to produce properly. Last week she reported they had 60 completed masks, but said once they have the necessary materials, barring any delays, they anticipate the completion of at least 400 masks in the next batch, by mid-April.

For every completed mask, Cote said, there is already a waiting recipient. She said their Facebook page, Southwest Florida Face Mask Crew, has gotten messages from law enforcement, firefighters, as well as staff from both Lee Health and nursing homes.

Many HCP in need of these masks withhold the specific name of their department, Cote said, for fear of bypassing red tape in light of receiving life-saving equipment.

“For everything we make, there is a need,” said Cote, “and we are so proud to be able to meet it.”

Isabel Francis, an RN and creator of Southwest Florida Face Mask Crew, said she wants people to know that they are a community-wide organization, making a community effort. The crew is currently seeking participation, donation, and even seamstresses. She said they have been able to donate 12 masks to the ICU in North Collier Hospital, and six masks Francis sewed herself to the COVID Unit at Gulf Coast.

“As requests come in from nurses, medical providers and the community,” said Francis, “we are directing the resources and the masks we’ve already sewn out to those members of the community.”

Francis also said the Healing Stitches Team will be working on projects dedicated to larger quantities. She explained that people within the community who’ve been sewing thus far have already made a pronounced impact, by getting the masks out to nurses and staff immediately.

“I want everyone to know,” said Francis, “the people on Pine Island have come together and sewn masks that are being used right now by nurses in COVID units and intensive care units all over Lee County. People are being protected.”