Doing Our Part: Elm City Communities Partners with Local Contractors to Give Out Free Masks, Hand Sanitizer

New Haven, CT – Four local contractors teamed up with Elm City Communities on April 9th to distribute thousands of masks and more than one hundred bottles of hand sanitizers to residents for free.

Rodney Williams, owner of Green Elm Construction, organized the event at the McConaughy Terrace community to address a need he said was not being met.

“What they really need in our community they aren’t getting,” Williams said. “We know what they need, so let’s just get it out there to them,”

The other contractors who participated were Robert Carter from New Haven A Plus Mechanical, Darren Smith from Hamden Partitions and Acoustical, and Booker Washington, who works in mechanical heating and air conditioning,

The group of contractors and Elm City Communities employees set up at the basketball court on South Genesee Street where they distributed 6,500 masks and 150 bottles of hand sanitizer throughout the afternoon. The group handed the protective equipment out to residents who stopped by and also went door-to-door.

Elm City Communities President Karen DuBois-Walton was among those handing out the masks and hand sanitizer. She said she is hopeful now that the vaccines are becoming more widely available, but warned of rising COVID numbers in the city.

“We’re seeing the numbers rise in terms of cases so we have to keep the message out that yes get yourself vaccinated, but we have to keep these precautions of washing your hands and wearing masks,” DuBois-Walton said. “If we can help spread that word and give families the resources that’s just amazing.”

Elm City Communities resident Donna Perry received masks and hand sanitizer at the event and even called other residents to come by and get their own.

“As a resident I think this is a very important cause to give out masks,” Perry said. “A lot of people might not be able to afford them so I think this is a really good giveaway.”

Providing masks to the community is no new venture for Williams. He said he has handed out more than 100,000 since the beginning of the pandemic and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“When I see kids wearing these masks, I feel like I’m saving lives,” Williams said.