COVID-19 Face Mask Kit for All

Orlando, FL

To help fight the spread of Covid-19, Tammy Roussell’s sewing-by-touch company, “Mitsy Kit,” is making free face masks for the visually impaired and disabled who cannot afford them.

Tammy said, “Our goal is to do good, have faith, and praise God.”

Tammy says the idea for the “Mitsy Kit,” came after her mom, Mitsy, started losing her eyesight, and couldn’t enjoy her life-long love of sewing. When Tammy and Mitsy worked on projects together, it did much more than give her mother a creative outlet.

“It brought us closer in a sense of feeling like we were, it was like a connection, right? It's a connection we didn’t have before,” said Tammy. 

That’s because, for years, their relationship was strained. It escalated when Tammy got pregnant at 15.

Tammy said, “I've never felt rejection like the day when I was told by my mother and father that they wouldn't support me unless I got an abortion. And so, I finally went through with it and was sick, was devastated and felt like I had done the worst thing, that God would never forgive me.”

Tammy had a daughter two years later, but she carried that guilt and rejection well into her adult life.

“I think a lot of it relates to that fear of rejection, fear of failure, feeling like you're going, you know, you might disappoint someone,” explained Tammy.

But in her early 30’s, God gave her a new outlook on life.

“As awful as I felt about what I had done in my life, that Christ, you know, gave His life,” said Tammy.  “And I didn't deserve it, you know, I didn't deserve it, but He forgave me. He just lifted the burden of guilt and pain that I had carried with me since, you know, a child.”

But it wasn’t until years later that Tammy was able to forgive her parents.  By then, her dad had passed, and a congenital eye disease was robbing her mother of her eyesight.

Tammy explained, “I just saw the fear and the pain that she was going through, realizing that she was going to lose a lot of independence and didn't know what to do. And so, I started seeing her, I think, through God's eyes, you know, as His child, and I started having compassion.”

Tammy tried to find different ways to grow closer to her, like quilting. But with Mitsy’s eyesight almost gone, her sewing days were coming to an end, or so it seemed. 

“One day, I was just walking through a craft store and God just put in my head, you know, ‘Try putting tactile borders on the fabric,’" explained Tammy.  “And it was like the most amazing thing ever, because it just came out of nowhere!”

Using pre-cut fabrics and ribbons along the borders, Tammy made it possible for her mother to sew, even though she couldn’t see!

With a big smile, Tammy said, “The joy on her face when she was able to sew again and her tenacity, you know, she was always telling me, ‘I'm out of work. I'm out of work.’” After a slight laugh, Tammy continued, “You know? Because she would sew so fast. Not only did it give her something meaningful to do, but others saw the value in it. And so, I think she felt others were seeing the value in her.”

Seeing the difference it made in her mother’s life, Tammy launched “Mitsy Kit.”  100% of profits are donated to charity, and it employs the visually impaired.

Tammy said, “The best thing ever is when they look at you and they tell you, ‘I can't believe I did it!’ You know? It's like this amazing sense of joy that they have.”

Today, as it helps families connect with loved ones, Tammy knows that God is blessing everyone through each project.

Tammy said, “When you look what God allows you to do in partnership with these people and the joy that you get from it is just unexplainable.”