STAMFORD, CT – The City of Stamford announced today its ongoing initiative to hand out thousands of masks to residents and organizations across Stamford. This initiative began several weeks ago through coordination with Public Safety and community organizations in Stamford.
“This initiative is part of Stamford’s aggressive approach to stopping the spread of this virus in our community,” said Mayor David Martin. “The CDC now recommends all residents wear cloth masks when they are in public and cannot maintain social distancing. We are making sure our residents have masks and know to wear a mask. Of course, the best prevention method continues to be staying home and avoiding all contact with others.”
The City of Stamford originally began disseminating masks and prevention information to high-risk populations such as nursing homes, senior facilities, and homeless shelters. As more masks and other supplies become available to Stamford, the City has expanded its initiative to include more communities and populations including New Covenant House, Building One Community, Bethel AME Church, and a partnership with the NAACP to distribute masks and information to apartment buildings and complexes. Packages of masks and information have been delivered by Stamford Fire Department and Community Emergency Response Team.
In addition to distribution through community organizations, Stamford Police Department’s Community Outreach Program has disseminated masks to individuals throughout the community. The Community Outreach Program is part of the department’s Community Policing focus on making personal connections between officers and residents. Officers provide a mask and prevention information to individuals throughout Stamford as needed. This program has already provided hundreds of masks to individuals and continues to this day.
“Community policing means making a connection with individual residents and making sure we keep our community safe in every way we can,” said Police Chief Tim Shaw. “That includes providing residents with accurate information about this pandemic and how to protect themselves from infection. I would like to thank Captain Diedrich Hohn, Sergeant William Brevard, and Officer Adriana Molina for spearheading this initiative.”
Masks and prevention information have been included as part of the Board of Education’s Grab and Go meal program. Prevention information is provided in English, Spanish, and Creole as needed.
