By Vicente Vera

The Student Homeless Alliance at San Jose State University had planned for its 13th annual “Poverty Under the Stars” event to take place on Nov. 15 at the Smith and Carlos lawn.

Organizers lined up a press conference for the early afternoon, and come sundown, participants planned to bring out tents and sleeping bags to forge a symbolic encampment around the sculpture and show their solidarity with

homeless students.

However, the event was postponed because of SJSU’s campus closure on

Nov. 14 and 15, as a result of air pollution brought on by the Camp Fire in

Northern California.

“When classes were canceled, all the events and activities on campus were also canceled, so we were forced to either scrap or postpone,” said the president of the Student Homeless Alliance, Mayra Bernabe. 

Though the “Poverty Under the Stars” event was rescheduled for Dec. 6, real-life poverty under the stars became a hazardous reality for more than 3,000 unsheltered people in San Jose who had to deal with the unsafe air conditions, according to the San Jose Housing Instability Research Department. 

“Whether our event occurred or not, we must keep in mind that homeless people were still sleeping outside and being exposed to the deteriorating air quality,” Bernabe said.

While most people were able to escape the pollution and monitor the situation from the sanctity of their homes, those without shelter were vulnerable to the particles in the air.

St. James Park is home to a high concentration of unsheltered residents, many of whom were without air filtration masks on Nov. 19. That was the 11th day in a row in which the particles in the air were deemed “unhealthy” by the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards.

A resident at the park who goes by “Johnny G” said he was not aware of how potentially hazardous the air was, but added he would not have worn an air filtration mask no matter the health risk.

“I’ve been breathing this air for the past 55 years and I ain’t never felt the need to wear no mask,” he said. “Why should I look for one now?”

Johnny then pulled up the collar of his coat and zipped it up over his nose and mouth.

He tugged on his collar once more and proclaimed, “This is my mask right here.”

Clothing does not protect against toxic air particles. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommend the standard air filtration mask, designed to filter out at least 95 percent of dust and mold in the air.

Some churches and nonprofits in downtown San Jose recognized that many unsheltered people in the area were not actively searching for these air

filtration masks.

Community organizers at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph prioritized the distribution of N95 masks at their sixth annual health fair on Nov. 16.

“Our health fair is usually to help unsheltered and other vulnerable people prepare themselves for the winter season,” said Sharon Miller, the director of social ministry at the cathedral. “We realized that the smoke could also pose a health risk, so we added breathing masks to our arsenal of resources.”

More than 40 volunteers from outreach services like Gardner Health Care for the Homeless and the Low-Income Self-Help Center participated in the event.

The staff at LifeMoves, a nonprofit organization that provides interim housing for homeless families and individuals, ordered air filtration masks for all clients residing at their 17 housing sites across the Bay Area, according to chief development officer Katherine Finnigan.

Four of its locations are in San Jose, along with a “Safe Parking for Families” site at the Seven Trees Community Center in South San Jose.

Finnigan said the polluted air presented the organization with a challenge it had never faced in its 40-year history.

“We ordered and distributed masks to ALL field personnel and our site directors ordered them for clients at their sites,” she said in an email. “We are still monitoring the air quality closely and continue to update staff.”

Downtown San Jose resident, Joe Baltazar, visited some friends who reside in St. James Park and said a local church distributed air filtration masks in the area, but no one showed interest in wearing them, including himself.

“Everyone is always smoking around the park. The air from the fire is really no different to me,” Baltazar said. “Smoke is smoke, we’re all used to it over here.”