Covid Mask Crusade Hits Waverly

The masks had arrived. So Kyasia Parker sprinted door to door, rounding up her neighbors and friends — and keeping up the momentum in a grassroots pandemic-survival effort.

As Kyasia hopped between her neighbors’ houses, her mother, Nikki Parker, called for her friends to come out.

Eventually, Parker brought out a folding chair so she could sit and help local contractor Rodney Williams and the neighborhood’s alder, Tyisha Walker-Myers, distribute packets of disposable face masks to residents and passersby.

That was the scene Thursday after noon at the Waverly Townhouses public-housing complex in the West River neighborhood.

Waverly Street was filled with hearty laughter that day as the close-knit residential community showed up in full force to help keep each other — and their loved ones, and their students — a little more pandemic-safe. The afternoon reflected the challenge and the promise of pandemic survival in the city: people pulling together to carry out the steps needed to keep everyone safe.

Williams (pictured), who has spearheaded several other mask distribution events and said he plans to run more next week, donated over 2,000 adult-sized masks and 4,500 kid-sized ones. Two hours into the event, his supply was nearly depleted; he had to drive home to retrieve more.

Williams is the owner of local contracting company Green Elm Construction. He also sells face masks and face shields at bulk prices. He said he uses the profits to purchase more masks for donation-driven events like Thursday’s.

He had masks in two sizes: one for young kids, and one for teens and adults.

“You got kids? Grandkids?” Williams and Walker-Myers would ask the adults who strolled by. ​“Go get your friends.”

They gave out as many packs of masks as people asked for. Williams stressed that he wasn’t going to run out of stock anytime soon.

One kid, Nazir, showed up proudly donning a mask patterned with ice cream and balloons. Williams fished through his trunk to find two packs of masks with pandas on them.

While the masks on Thursday were free, Williams nonetheless made a few sales to people interested in supporting the distribution effort, including Rev. Steven Cousin of Bethel A.M.E. Church, who arrived to buy 2,500 masks on the spot.

He also sold plastic kid-sized face shields for $2 a piece, which eventually proved to be popular with the Waverly kids.

As Covid-19 infections rise in Connecticut, Williams said, ​“I’m giving the people what they need.” He said that even the masks he sells are priced accessibly. ​“They sell them in the street for a dollar a piece,” he said, shaking his head.

Walker-Myers said she sees continuous free mask distribution as critical in the pandemic, she said, because ​“you gotta have access to them to be able to keep them on.”

And Covid isn’t going anywhere soon, she added. ​“We are gonna be doing this for a long time.”

Nikki Parker stayed to help for the duration of the event. She and her friend Kathy (pictured) work as paraprofessionals in New Haven Public Schools. They both took packets of masks to distribute to their classrooms. Then, Parker began calling neighbors by name as they walked by, asking if they needed masks.

Dominique Edge (pictured) was one of those neighbors passing by.

“Masks, they do get expensive,” said Edge, who has worked in retail through the pandemic. ​“Especially with hours being cut, this is a huge help.”

Jonathan Bailey, an old friend of Williams’ who noticed the event as he rode by on his motorcycle, said the distribution effort was necessary.

“You got people waltzing around with the same mask on, dirty and worn out,” he said. ​“They’re supposed to be single-use.”

The city should be doing more to distribute masks, Bailey added. ​“What’s the plan?”

Stetson Library Branch Manager Diane Brown, who stopped by for a quick visit, praised Williams for stepping up. ​“He’s taking care of the village the way we all should be taking care of the village,” she said.

Thursday’s mask distribution wasn’t the first event promoting mask-wearing at the complex. Recently, Tynicha Drummonds — the complex’s Youth Program Coordinator — orchestrated a tie-dye mask-making event.

Drummonds said that building community within the complex has been challenging during the pandemic, as she tries to keep everyone safe and socially distanced but still engaged. In the warmer months, Drummonds said, she’s been holding events outdoors, but she’s worried about how she’ll run events when the weather grows cold.

Another challenge has been the closure of the Waverly community room, which shut down in February and was eventually turned into another apartment unit. Other housing complexes have community rooms, Drummonds pointed out; Waverly deserves one too.

“I used to love going there,” Precious Hill, who grew up in the complex, reminisced about the community space. ​“You meet new people.”

Patricia Evans also mourned the loss of the community room. She’s lived in the complex for 17 years, and she knows everyone. She and her late husband had a tradition of giving out fried dough to neighbors. Now, without a space for Waverly residents to gather, she’s especially concerned about how the kids and teens will fare without as many structured activities. ​“There’s nothing for these kids to do,” she said.

Both the pandemic and the lack of a gathering space has forced the Waverly community to adapt. But residents have continued to care for one another through tough times.

When Evans was recently sick, Hill checked in on her and offered to buy groceries.

“She’s not my daughter, but she might as well be,” Evans said.

As they spoke, Kyasia Parker returned with a cluster of her peers, who lined up with two dollars each to purchase a face shield.

The one Parker bought for herself was pink and puppy-themed.