DEEP DIVE:

BUILDING COMMUNITY FROM THE GROUND UP

SNAPSHOT

community banner

Uniting with Homemade Masks San Diego

ROLE: Community and ProjectsPROJECT LENGTH: 8 monthsPROJECT TYPE: community developmentMISSION: organize local community to provide homesewn PPE to healthcare-in-needCOMMUNITY SIZE: +1.3k membersPRIMARY PLATFORMS: Facebook Groups, RedditPRIMARY TOOLS: Trello, G Suite, GIMP, Canva, Microsoft Teams, Zoom

BACKGROUND

San Diego County, California

February 2020: The CDC confirmed national rationing protocols for medical personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The strain placed on healthcare workers and domestic caregivers became prominent topics of conversation across the majority of social media platforms.March 2020: Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of epidemiology and immunization services for San Diego County, acknowledged local "inventory control" procedures and impending PPE scarcity. The afternoon of that press conference, I posted on my regional subreddit to recruit local sewists/crafters to help me make a few fabric masks to donate. I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of interest and support- and was contacted by a local member of the medical virology community to see if I'd be interested in partnering to see if we could make more than just a few fabric masks.

APPROACH

Building from the Beginning

The unique circumstances facing Uniting with Homemade Masks was a rapid-fire crucible of situational challenges.While every startup experiences a leadership "learning curve", we approached the project with the awareness that leadership missteps could have very impactful real-world consequences. This mindset allowed us to eschew typical organizational hurdles by prioritizing safety, expediency and community instead of a rigid structural foundation. In other words, we flew by the seat of our pants, relying heavily on immediate information, open communication and fluid collaboration.

We analyzed our leadership deficiencies and immediately onboarded additional organizers whose skillsets would bridge those gaps. Our management styles included daily standups, iterative process, continual feedback and elements of both agile and six sigma project management. We used a tiered system to divide tasks among our five-person leadership. First, tasks were distributed to the organizer with the best suited skillset and then by organizer availability; any overflow was then sourced to the community at large.

MY ROLE

Community Director

Initially, my experience with sewing, my connections with local crafter & craft supply stores, and my previous community management experience gave me the skillset to meet Uniting with Homemade Masks San Diego's community needs. Yet daily, I encountered new challenges I had no experience in.Looking back, I'm proof of what you can accomplish when you "eschew typical organizational hurdles"!A quick summary of my accomplishments with Uniting with Homemade Masks San Diego:

People

Healthcare networking

Volunteer roles & SOPs

Volunteer coordination

Distribution team coordination

"Neighborhood Leader" training

Supplier donations & outreach

Local media outreach

Community

Multi-channel recruiting

Educational materials

Virtual tutorials

Emotional health content

Organic marketing

Community outreach

Recipient feedback

Product

Design adaptation

Materials testing

Materials donations

Contributed to hygiene protocols

Distribution system organization

Inventory management

Order tracking

COMMUNITY

Rising to the Occasion- Together.

(click image popout icon on pc to open in a new tab)

Constraints

Unexpected, unplanned startup movement

Supply unable to meet demand

Community with varying technological ability

Extremely small margin for error

Supplementals

Synergistic, constant-communication team

Volunteer mentality

Regional/county recognition and support

Multiple moderators per Admin

Uniting with Homemade Masks San Diego's community's diverse- people of all ages, genders, English language levels and locations brought together by a desire to help their neighbors. However, the core volunteers were a demographic I had little professional exposure to... senior citizens! This modified my approaches to language, technology services like Zoom, and how I composed both content and educational materials. (really gave "throwback Thursday" some new context!)The biggest challenge I encountered wasn't demographic specific- the emotional and mental health of a community during an exceptional time of stress, isolation and burnout. Increasing engagement wasn't a marketing KPI, it was an important cornerstone of community care. I used that concept to inform and influence my community and organizational interactions, planning and practices.Within the community directly, I ensured that "neighbor in need" posts were well balanced by positive content, social calls, and encouraging donation recipients to share positive feedback and appreciation with our volunteers.

SUMMARY

Harnessing the Power of Community

In the span less than four months, Uniting with Homemade Masks' 1,300 volunteer community provided over 10,000 units of homemade fabric masks and 3D printed face shields PPE to healthcare, essential workers & immunocompromised neighbors in need.In June 2020, commercial PPE became available in healthcare, and we finally got to breathe a sigh of relief. We continued to donate childrens masks, Deaf-accessible (clear mouthpiece) masks, and items like scrub caps and "ear saver" mask accessories to healthcare. Whenever I'm asked about my personal accomplishments, United with Homemade Masks San Diego is my most cherished one.Friendships, close bonds, funny (in retrospect) memories-and lessons on self-limitation, emotional wellbeing and the raw power of a purposeful community.