Local law firm partners with organizations to provide masks for communities in need

"COVID-19 is hitting the Hispanic community in North Carolina really hard. Additionally, it is affecting farm workers and other essential workers who have to work in close proximity with each other everyday," said Santiago Arroba, an attorney at Whitley Law Firm in Raleigh.

Wake County officials say, despite making up 10 percent of North Carolina's population, those who identify as Hispanic or Latino account for about 46 percent of COVID-19 cases in the state.

The CDC reported age-adjusted hospitalization rates are highest among non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Natives and non-Hispanic black persons, followed by Hispanic or Latino persons. Hispanic or Latino persons have a COVID-19 hospitalization rate approximately four times that of non-Hispanic white persons.

Agricultural workers, in particular, are in serious danger of spreading the illness because they work shoulder to shoulder with each other. Additionally, pesticides and field dust can trigger respiratory problems, which puts these workers at even greater risk during the pandemic.

Arroba, who works with many of Whitley Law Firm's Hispanic and Spanish-speaking clients, said the firm wanted to get involved with mask distribution efforts after realizing many of their clients who were essential workers or farmers had little access to masks.

One of the firm's case managers had a contact at the Guatemalan Consulate who reached out about opportunities to get involved. Arroba soon connected with Maria Cervania, a community organizer and candidate for Wake County Commissioner who has been volunteering her efforts to disseminate masks and other necessities to the Latinx community, and Carmin Roldan, co-founder of Educación Sin Barreras N.C. (Education without Barriers N.C.).

Educación Sin Barreras N.C. is "a coalition of non-profit grassroots organizations, parents, educators and students working together to seek ways to improve the education provided to English Language Learners in North Carolina's public schools."

The group recently partnered with the Industrial Commons, a cooperative of fabric manufacturers that provides resources and support to firms and networks to help improve livelihoods and root wealth in communities, to champion #MASKS4FARMWORKERS.

"Our main concern is the community that we love. Education is important, but other needs are even more relevant at the moment. So we pivoted to doing COVID-19 response. I came across the #MASKS4FARMWORKERS campaign on LinkedIn — it's a national campaign initiated by Justice for Migrant Women," Roldan said. "I asked them if they had allies here in North Carolina and they didn't, so I decided to collaborate with the Industrial Commons and organize something here. I reached out to anyone and everyone who worked with the farm workers."

#MASKS4FARMWORKERS, which is supported by more than a dozen local organizations, has helped distribute thousands of reusable fabric masks handmade by volunteers to farm workers, the Latinx community and others in need. Organizations, individuals and other groups, like Whitley Law Firm, are making masks, and donating time and resources to the cause.

"Carmin reached out to me in regards to logistics when it came to obtaining actual face masks because there was a need to have a supply," Cervania said. "I've been involved with Face Mask Warriors N.C., MasksNOW and some other groups. By partnering with these groups and through the donations of volunteers, we've given out approximately 7,000 masks so far all over the state. It's just been amazing. We were all strangers when we started out, but now we're so close, and we're so close to the people we're helping — all of our migrant farm workers and their families."

Roldan emphasized many farm workers have special circumstances — they're isolated on farms without convenient access to stores and usually finish working very late. To get to the store for basic necessities is challenging. She also said the living conditions of farm workers are often cramped, making it difficult to social distance.

"Hispanics have been at the frontline. They have not stopped working. They've been in the fields collecting the vegetables, they've been cleaning, they've been on construction sites. They've been out there," Roldan said. "I don't think it should be surprising that they have more rates of COVID."

Cervania said the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the disparities that already exist in black and brown communities, such as language barriers and access to health care and general information.

Roldan agreed.

"The huge amounts of information that are available to the general population have not been so available to this population. That's why we were trying to make that effort to put resources out there," said Roldan. "Farm workers are essential workers and we need them. And we're grateful for them and they have done a great job in keeping fruits and vegetables on our tables. This is our chance to show our gratitude. And I am definitely grateful to the Whitley Law Firm — they've been great because they have filled a gap."

"We recently let some of the organizers use our office as a home base to bag masks before going out and distributing them," said Arroba. He noted that a mother and daughter from Chapel Hill dropped off 800-plus masks that they and others had handmade. "We felt like it was the least we could do to get these masks out to the communities that desperately need them the most."

Added Roldan, "A lot of organizations have jumped on board and been wonderful and so willing to help. It's been a great time to see this happening and to see people willing to work together."