Kindness in the air along with the smoke
On Friday, as smoky air laid siege to Oakland, draping the city in a gray-and-yellow haze like an Instagram filter, J. Redwoods breathed new life into an old idea. Redwoods tweeted that the organization Mask Oakland was going to hand out masks to people for free, as it did after the Wine Country fires last year. But this year, donations were being sought.
On Friday, Mask Oakland handed out almost 200 masks, according to Redwoods, a transgender educator who prefers to be referred to as “they.” They’re an activist from Arlington, Va., who moved to Oakland in 2014 because they were drawn to the Bay Area’s active queer community.
On Saturday, Mask Oakland gave away 300 masks. On Sunday, because donations were pouring in, the organization handed out more than 2,000 masks.
They passed out 1,500 more on Monday.
I spent time with Redwoods and five college students who volunteered for Mask Oakland on Monday afternoon, the day the Bay Area Air Quality Management District extended an air alert through Friday due to smoke impact from the Camp Fire.
The alert warns people to limit outdoor activity. And when indoors, windows should be kept closed. But what if you don’t have a home? Closing windows and staying inside isn’t an option for the
thousands of homeless people living in Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. They’re stuck outside until the smoke clears.
“It’s pretty simple math that the more time you’re exposed to unfiltered pollution, the more damage you experience,” said Redwoods, 30. “And if you’re outside all the time, you are getting the worst of it.”
Redwoods criticized local governments for not doing enough to protect their most vulnerable residents. Justin Berton, a spokesperson for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, told me outreach workers with Alameda County are distributing masks, just as they did after the Wine Country fires.
“Mask Oakland is what Oaklanders do — they jump into action and with compassion first,” Berton said. “Unfortunately, the need for masks appears to be the new normal in the Bay Area.”
Sherri Willis, public information officer for the Alameda County Public Health Department, said the county is working on a plan to distribute 5,000 masks to homeless people. Mask Oakland, which has focused distribution in homeless encampments in West Oakland, East Oakland and Berkeley, has already surpassed what the county health department is planning to do. And Redwoods said Mask Oakland will keep buying and handing out masks until the air quality improves.
Air quality in the Bay Area has hovered at hazardous levels for a week. Ratings above 150 particles per million are considered unhealthy. On Monday, the air quality was 170 in Oakland and 165 in Berkeley, according to AirVisual, a company that monitors air quality. Prolonged exposure to smoke can cause respiratory and other health-related issues. Poor air quality makes living on the streets even harder.
“We’re going into encampments and we’re giving away masks, and people are certainly grateful, but it makes me even more aware that there’s so much more need out there,” Cassandra Williams, the 36-year-old Mask Oakland co-founder, told me after she spent the afternoon in East Oakland. “I want to show up with food, water and toiletries, because there is such a need.”
An N95 particulate respirator mask, which sells for about $2 at stores such as Home Depot, is what the Bay Area Air Quality Management District recommends for wearing outside. Last year, Mask Oakland sold masks on the street for a few bucks apiece so they could buy more masks to give away. They gave away 4,000, according to Redwoods. By Monday, Mask Oakland had raised more than $15,000 in three days, mostly through the mobile payment service Venmo, Redwoods told me.
The student volunteers, who found Mask Oakland through social media, are members of the Students of Color Environmental Collective, a UC Berkeley campus organization. They gathered at Redwoods’ house in Emeryville.
Gisela Tarifa, 21, who is majoring in political science, said she has spent a lot of time outside on Saturday. And on Sunday, she felt sick.
“I felt like I had a fever,” she said. “I was just imagining all the people that are breathing all the smoke right now, 24/7, just out there. I could only imagine how sick they must be feeling.”
Markus Supply, a hardware store near Jack London Square, delivered 2,000 masks to Redwoods on Monday afternoon. Mask Oakland is buying in bulk so it doesn’t empty inventory at local stores.
The group ordered a total of 9,000 masks to give away this week.
“You need a mask?” Redwoods asked the delivery driver, as they slipped the receipt into their pocket. Mask Oakland is looking for a volunteer bookkeeper.
“Hey, do you want a mask?” Redwoods said to a woman riding a bike down the street. She made a U-turn to pick one up.
As Redwoods and the volunteers carried boxes into the house, a neighbor who was on the way out of their house stopped Redwoods.
“Did you say you had a mask?” the man said.
For me, watching people look out for one another is always a breath of fresh air.
“This is not a fringe benefit,” Redwoods said to me. “This is air we’re talking about. You die without it.”
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr