Urgent Need: Face Masks for the Homeless

We are living in an unprecedented time. The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our lives and triggered a variety of changes to the way we do things at CP. We have been taking direction from the government to make sure we’re protecting our guests. We have no volunteers on site. And we’ve reduced down to a skeleton crew for our staff. Others are working from home. The staff is taking temperatures and we’ve reduced the number of guests in our day room at any one time.

Social distancing and diligent hand washing have been at the top of the list since the beginning of this viral outbreak. And now the CDC is recommending face masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19. They advise wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies), especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

In an effort to comply with this new recommendation we are in urgent need of face masks for our guests. Our guests are among some of the most vulnerable in our community, and we work hard every day to protect them from this virus. We are asking for your help.

If you’re willing to donate masks, please contact Patti Floyd at PattiF@carpentersplace.org or 815-964-4105 ext. 216.

Our executive director, Kay Larrick, recently talked with WNIJ News and expressed how thankful our guests are that Carpenter’s Place is still open because some other places they usually frequent are not.

“Our guests, every day they express how grateful they are that we’re still here and we’re open,” she said. “Because, you know, a lot of places where they might typically go, aren’t open at this time.”

To those members of our community who have already donated masks, THANK YOU! We are so grateful for your gifts of time, talent and generosity! Together, we will get through this!