Mask sewing project among Chicago refugee groups leads to new career goal: ‘This is my job'

In Montana, a handful of manufacturers have adapted their facilities to make products and materials that help healthcare workers safely work on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic. From face shields to liquid transport mediums, these businesses are finding new ways to play a larger role in the efforts to contain the virus, while also keeping their employees working.

A tension fabric structures manufacturing company in Maine has repurposed their facility and transformed their local workforce to create grade-one medical masks for the local hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic. Because the company uses only U.S.-made materials, they have been able to avoid supply chain interruptions and now plans to continue making masks as part of their standard business model even after the pandemic passes.

Businesses in the Four Corners region of the United States have shifted their production from outdoor equipment to medical equipment and have successfully solicited people from the community to help. Although the businesses don't necessarily have the capacity or facilities available to prevent medical-grade equipment and have had to rethink how their production regimes work, they have been able to make at-home protective equipment and items such as hospital gowns.

In Los Angeles, fashion industry professionals are working together to create hospital gowns from donated materials for use in hospitals. The project is also helping to employ those who have been laid off from their retail jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Many Chicago distilleries are utilizing their abundance of high-proof alcohol to create hand sanitizer to fill a gap in the market due to the coronavirus pandemic. While a portion of the product is being donated to first responders and frontline workers, this new business endeavor is also helping distillery owners keep their employees on payroll and their businesses open.

Distilleries and pharmacies in Vermont have begun making hand sanitizer, in order to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Although this does take away from the typical function of the businesses and doesn't result in revenue, the state is helping to cover costs of production so that all bottles can be donated to emergency responders, grocery store workers, and other at-risk people.

Several distilleries across the U.S. are shifting gears from producing beer to instead producing hand sanitizer to play a part in addressing the coronavirus pandemic. Combatting the shortage of the product, while also promoting better hygiene, distilleries are experimenting with recipes based on federal and World Health Organization guidelines and giving the product to patrons as well as donating to charities.

As restaurants look at a myriad of ways to enhance the cleanliness of their businesses in light of the coronavirus pandemic, a distillery in North Carolina chose to shift their focus from gin-making to making and distributing hand sanitizer. The owners of the distillery are also training neighboring businesses "how to use the solution responsibly," and then donating bottles of the sanitizer after they complete the session.

To save dozens of restaurants in San Francisco during the coronavirus lockdowns, a restaurant owner launched an organization that "provides monthly contracts to its restaurant partners to cook meals for underserved populations." The organization, which has 160 restaurant partners so far, helps fill the gaps left by the government-funded Paycheck Protection Program.

Comal Heritage Food Incubator trains immigrant and refugee women to start their own businesses in the food industry. Comal offers coaching, financial support, and connections to social services. It also pays trainees, which has been vital to endure the food industry shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group also ensures members have food, rent assistance, school supplies, or diapers for their children. They partner with the Denver Metro Emergency Food Network, delivering about 290,000 meals since the pandemic began. The model is working in other cities, including Seattle and San Francisco.