COVID-19 has changed many things for us all.
Some of us are working from home. Others are on the front lines caring for patients. And, we’re all busily planning for what comes next.
Amidst the clamor, a group of uniquely talented volunteers from the University of Colorado’s Department of Family Medicine (DFM) are taking time out to get their stitch on and share some love.
Teaming with the Colorado Hospital Association’s Mask Making Project, DFM purchased enough supplies to produce 200 cloth face masks for use in family medicine clinics as needed and to offer to faculty, staff, and community partners.
"I hadn't sewn in years but I had this really old sewing machine so when I saw the email asking for volunteers to make masks I said why not! I felt it was the least I could do in this pandemic, “ says Luis Lorenzo, MD.
“Thank God, though, there were still instructional videos on YouTube for my antique sewing machine."
Dr. Lorenzo is a family medicine practitioner at the CU Family Medicine – Depot Hill Clinic in Westminster and a DFM senior instructor. While he is busy caring for patients, he says he’s happy that his handy work can help provide some basic protection for those who need it.
Lorenzo is one of a team of eight DFM mask makers. They are professional research assistants, staff and faculty. They come from different corners of the department, but they all share a common mission and sentiment.
“My husband and I are both physicians and have been part of the University of Colorado School of Medicine family since we graduated from training,” says Dr. Nida Awadallah is a DFM assistant professor and physician consultant for the CU College of Nursing.
Awadallah says, like the rest of her sewing teammates, that sitting down at her sewing machine is the least she can do in this time of crisis.
“Making the masks was simply a show of gratitude from me to all those on the frontlines, each of whom is a hero in our eyes.”