When an atmospheric river threatened the Berkeley unhoused community with heavy rainfall last November, local activist Stefan Kaiter-Snyder got to work.
In just a few days, Kaiter-Snyder parked a “warming hut” on the corner of Eighth and Harrison, which Kaiter-Snyder stocked with piping hot coffee, snacks, a space heater and clean clothes for the unhoused people at the site.
Hand built by Kaiter-Snyder, the warming hut now rolls out to encampments across the city whenever temperatures drop. The warming hut earned him this month’s Chris Kindness Award, according to a press conference Tuesday.
“I kind of cobbled this thing together just to be functional for the first day of use,” Kaiter-Snyder said. “You know, I’ve lived in my car for a long stretch of time … and I think building community with the people who are unhoused out here just speaks to me and it always has.”
The award, created by Haas School of Business lecturer Alan Ross in 2022, recognizes everyday acts of kindness in the Berkeley community. Ross, who teaches business ethics, made the award in an effort to elevate the meaningful ways people support one another.
Ross said he hopes to expand the award beyond Berkeley and is currently fundraising so that more community-serving residents in the broader Bay Area can be recognized for their service.
“We give awards for everything in society, but what really matters, what’s the most important thing to me, is just basic kindness,” Ross said. “So I started noticing more and more as I got older, how much this meant to me … And I thought, why don’t we have an award for it?”
Berkeley community members nominate candidates and vote on the finalists each month. Winners receive $1,000 to use at their discretion. Kaiter-Snyder, staying true to his mission, said his check will go straight toward building the next warming hut. He said he hopes to construct a larger hut with wheelchair access, an awning for shelter and a bookshelf stocked with resource guides for housing and healthcare.
However, volunteers are what the project needs most, Kaiter-Snyder said. “If anybody wants to volunteer and be a barista … anything is good to allow me to take a break from this.”
During cold months, he plans to bring the hut to Eighth and Harrison every Friday morning and encourages anyone interested to join him.
“It’s grown to something I’m really proud of, and we are raising money now to expand to other cities,” Ross said. “But it’s my favorite time of the month when I get to spend time with these incredible people. I mean, who else is out in the rain at (6 a.m.) to help others? And yet, that’s what makes it so special.”