Health

Volunteers are making isolation gowns, while at the same time giving some a second chance

BOSTON — At a time when a shortage of personal protective equipment is real, a local group has converted space in Brighton into a full scale PPE facility.

It’s called Gown Town.

They make protective gowns for front line health care workers battling COVID-19.

“Of all the pieces of PPE, it’s I believe, the third most used piece of protective equipment in the country and there was nobody making it,” said Jay Diengott, production manager of Gown Town.

Diengott and members of the Artisan’s Asylum, which is a non-profit community workshop, saw a need for the gowns and started manufacturing them in a converted full-scale PPE facility.

So far they have made 18,000 gowns. Their goal is to make 30,000 by September.

They’re are getting requests from all over the United States, including hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities and rehabilitation centers.

“I have been trying as much as possible to send things to Navajo Nation or other indigenous land knowing as we do they have gotten the least amount of federal support,” Diengott said.

Gown Town has had more than 100 volunteers since the project started in March. With help from a $77,000 grant from Get US PPE they’ve been able to hire a several part-time employees, including some new immigrants working towards citizenship and a few people recently released from prison.

“It can be especially hard getting a job with jail time on your record and especially now when there are so few jobs that I wanted to provide a chance for folks and to be able to provide references for whether they were staff or volunteers anybody who came through the doors to help them find a work in the future,” Diengott said.

Gown Town is hoping to stay in operation through the fall and is looking for volunteers. You can contact them here.

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

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