Submitted photo Liz Nalepa of Youngstown models a finished mask she sewed. Nalepa is one of many in the Valley who are putting their sewing skills to use to help fill a severe need for protective masks in hospitals and nursing homes.

YOUNGSTOWN — Liz Nalepa of Youngstown is spending her time honing in on the most effective pattern and materials to use when sewing fabric masks for medical professionals on the front tlines of the COVID-19 outbreak.

There’s an immediate need for masks in the Mahoning Valley and elsewhere.

“It’s going to get worse somewhere — even if it’s not here,” Nalepa said of the COVID-19 outbreak, which as of Friday had killed 24 in the Mahoning Valley and 91 across Ohio.

Through Senior Support Action Group and the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown, Nalepa has been trying to coordinate efforts and work with the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency, Mercy Health, Direction Home of Eastern Ohio and others.

She said nursing home facilities are also a priority.

“If I had to guess, that’s where the biggest shortage is right now. They would not normally be wearing personal protective equipment,” Nalepa said.

Nalepa has a list of about 20 volunteers in Mahoning County who are each trying to make 10 masks a day, five days a week.

“That is a crazy number of masks, but keep in mind that we have dramatically more health care workers than that. Each health care worker would want a few masks so they can sterilize them between wearing them.”

Often, hospital workers are wearing fabric masks overtop of N-95s to extend the lifetime of those heavy-duty masks, which workers must wear for a day or more.

As of this week, the state is encouraging employers to allow workers to wear masks if they want, though hospital-grade N-95 masks remain in short supply and cases of COVID-19 continue to climb. It’s possible masks will soon be recommended for the general public when leaving home.

“Obviously not everyone is going to have access to masks,” said Nalepa, who added some volunteers have already made masks for their families.

“In addition to protecting you from other people, if you get infected, it protects other people from you. Everyone wearing a mask is probably a good idea,” she said.

Masks are made of 100 percent tight-weave cotton, which can stand up to repeated sterilization and blocks a relatively high number of particles.

Joann Fabric has been donating two yards of fabric at a time to mask-making customers, which allows for the sewing of about 20 masks. GLI Pool Products is also offering pre-cut mask kits to sewers and collecting finished masks to send to organizations in need — with requests coming in from as far away as Florida.

Nalepa has developed a list of “best practices” for sewing masks, which includes using ties over elastic — which causes pain at the ears over a long wear; making a pocket for a filter; and using different materials for the front and back of the mask so health care workers can distinguish which is which. She has her own pattern for no-pleat drawstring masks, which she has distributed through groups of makers.

A Case Western Reserve doctoral candidate in sociology with a focus in medicine and law, Nalepa takes seriously COVID-19 and the ways the community can mitigate it.

“There are things that you can do to flatten the curve. The data that we’re seeing because of the action of our governor indicates that we may be flattening the curve of infection,” she said.

Across the Valley, others have joined in on the mask-making effort through groups or as individuals.

Rebekah Mancino of Warren has been using a 1930s-era sewing machine and iron.

“Both pieces of equipment were born in another era where need was great, and common, ordinary people answered a call to help other people,” said Mancino. “History repeats itself, but that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing.”

Mancino started a Facebook group, Make Masks Mahoning Valley, to serve as a community for seamstresses and seamsters to share mask-making tips and donation drop-off locations. The group has 71 members.

“I saw many people asking the same questions in different places so hoped to provide a centralized place for relevant information,” said Mancino. She said she also hoped the group would help form a community of makers in an isolating time.

Mancino said the majority of the masks she has personally made have gone to the ICU at St. Elizabeth hospital facilities.

In Howland, Joy Hromyak has been sewing 25 to 30 cotton masks a day while also entertaining her 7-year-old and 3-year-old at home.

“It’s a scary time,” Hromyak said. “I kept hearing about how they’re running out of things to protect health care workers.” She has donated masks to Trumbull Regional Medical Center, St. Joseph Warren Hospital, area nursing homes, and Lippy Group, where she used to work.

Nalepa said the overall effort has been collaborative.

“The story of who we’re working with is complicated because there are a lot of groups trying to do the same thing, and there is a lot of need in the community, ” said Nalepa. “I happen to be one person among many making sure that we are making and distributing masks to the people that need them, as well as supporting vulnerable community members.”

avugrincic@tribtoday.com

Mask drop off locations

* Oak Hill Collaborative:

507 Oak Hill Ave., Youngstown, 44502

Call ahead: (330) 360-4559

* Mercy Health:

email APRush@bshsi.org, subject line DONATION

Call: (888) 383-8000

* Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley:

Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, 6505 Market St., Boardman, 44512

email COVID.Resources@akronchildrens.org

Call: (330) 746-8100

Source: Make Masks Mahoning Valley

Best practices for mask sewing:

* Make sure the mask covers the nose and mouth completely

* Use 100 percent tight-weave cotton

* Form the mask to the face

* Use ties rather than elastic

* Use different material for the front and back of the mask

* Make a pocket for a filter material

* Use interfacing if possible

* Do not make masks if you are currently infected with COVID-19

Source: Liz Nalepa of Youngstown