City employees provide thousands of free face coverings to Dallas residents
Governor Abbott’s recent executive order requires Texans to wear masks when inside buildings or wherever it is not feasible to maintain six feet of social distancing from another person not in the same household.
With this requirement, the City of Dallas Office of Resilience has worked hard to establish an initiative to ensure that face coverings are accessible to all members of the community. City staff is creating care packages which include a reusable cloth face covering, information cards related to Census 2020, the City’s COVID website and information hotline as well as information about the Equity and Inclusion Team. Materials are in English and Spanish.
“We understand that members of our community lack access to face coverings,” Resilience Officer, Genesis Gavino, said. “In launching the face covering initiative, we are ensuring that our community is equipped with the proper personal protective equipment and also have information readily available to them through the information cards included in the packets.”
So far, over 2,000 packets have been distributed by Dallas Park and Recreation, DPD Community Affairs, DART Paratransit (Senior Meal Delivery) and the Stew Pot. The Office of Resilience is emphasizing distribution of masks in high-risk zip codes identified in the Equity Impact Assessment Tool such as food pantries and distribution sites, churches, small businesses and community organizations.
The packets are available in quantities of 50, with a maximum request of 250 per organization and can be requested here. Organizations can pick up the packages from Dallas City Hall. This initiative will continue while supplies last.
The Dallas Park and Recreation Department has also worked to make and distribute masks to the community! Check out what they’ve been doing here:
Interested in making your own reusable cloth mask? Here’s a tutorial.
Written by Alanna Evans