Chicago Clean Air Resilience Network

10/09/2026

This was an incredible effort that is going to help so many children and the schools, childcare centers, and community organizations that serve them breathe cleaner air! We're so excited to see this moving forward!

10/02/2026

SOS is one of the amazing founding members of Chi-CARN!

09/25/2026

09/25/2026

Looking forward to this community call with friend of Chi-CARN Terri Lynne Hudson!

Join us and Air Support Project on October 8th at 1pm ET for a free Zoom discussion with actors Terri Lynne Hudson and Cathryn Hartt, about clean air and being COVID-safe in the acting profession.

We'll talk about how COVID has impacted actors in the movie, tv, and theater industries; what kinds of mitigation or lack of mitigations our guests have experienced; and what the future of being clean-air-aware looks like for everyone in the acting community. We love both of these guests and are thrilled to chat with them on this topic.

Register: https://tinyurl.com/cleanairacting

09/25/2026

09/23/2026

We are so happy to be working with Windy City ToolBank & Midwest Disaster Services Hub and ToolBank USA to get clean air equipment and PPE out into the community!

🌬️ Clean air isn’t guaranteed, and nonprofits are stepping up to help fill the gap.💪

A recent CBS Chicago story highlights how the Chicago Clean Air Resilience Network (Chi-CARN) is getting critical air quality resources into the hands of community organizations that need them most.

🔗Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/chicago-air-quality-health-nonprofit-chi-carn/

💬 Jessica Pohto, Executive Director of Windy City ToolBank & Midwest Disaster Services Hub, shared, “It’s getting tools out to keep people safer.” She’s already seeing demand in real time, noting that orders are coming in even before supplies hit the ground.

🏙️ She also pointed to the reality many communities faced during recent wildfire smoke events: people sheltering indoors without the ability to improve air circulation.

💡 With no universal clean air protections in place, partnerships like Chi-CARN are stepping up to provide practical, immediate solutions like air purifiers, masks, and testing supplies to ensure communities aren’t left without support.

🛠️ It’s another example of how the ToolBank network continues to respond to evolving community needs.

09/21/2026

BREAKING NEWS: Chi-CARN is in the news!

CBS Chicago recently featured the Chicago Clean Air Resilience Network and the work we’re doing to expand access to clean-air resources across Chicago.

The story looks at a challenge we see firsthand: knowing the air is unsafe is one thing. Having access to the tools to respond is another.

That’s why Chi-CARN is building a shared system that connects community organizations with clean-air resources and the partners, data, and infrastructure needed to put those resources to work.

We’re grateful to CBS Chicago and reporter Mikayla Price for highlighting this work and the growing need for accessible clean indoor air.

📰 Read the full story at the link in our bio.

About Chi-CARN
Chicago Clean Air Resilience Network, “Chi-CARN” is a coordinated, multi-partner initiative led by airsupportproject and co-founded with Public Health Action Network (PHAN), SOS, and Windy City ToolBank - four 501c3 nonprofits who united around the mission of not letting bad air get in the way of good work.

Through a community-driven model, we are expanding access to clean air resources across Chicago by offering free K95/N95 masks, and low-cost borrowing of air purifiers and other clean air equipment available through Windy City ToolBank’s lending program.

Our inventory is expanding and we have events to announce soon! Give us a follow Chicago CARN for more updates!

09/18/2026

We were fortunate to be able to talk to CBS Chicago about the work that we are doing to increase access to clean air tools and PPE in Chicago. Our lending program is a free community resource that we are using to build resilience against wildfire smoke, respiratory illness, automotive & industrial pollution, and other airborne health threats facing Chicago residents.

Over the summer, Chicago was blanketed with the worst wildfire smoke event in the city's history, leaving vulnerable people and families scrambling to protect their lungs when even their own homes were no longer a safe place to shelter. This is not the first time that Chicago has experienced an air quality crisis like this, and it will not be the last, which is why we are trying to build a permanent, shared, and sustainable stockpile of tools and PPE that can be deployed in times of crisis.

In our conversation with Mikayla Price, we talked about how and why our coalition, comprised of Air Support Project, Public Health Action Network , SOS: Help the Helper, and Windy City ToolBank & Midwest Disaster Services Hub, came together to create this resource that none of us could have built on our own. We also talk about the directions in which we hope to grow our program and expand to other cities through the ToolBank USA network, once we have the resources to do so.

We are actively lending out free air purifiers and masks to Chicago-area organizations! All you need to do is register with Windy City ToolBank!

The nonprofit group Chi-CARN is on a mission to make clean indoor air as accessible as possible as new reports show extreme wildfires are becoming more common and their health risks may be severely underestimated.

09/17/2026

Thank you so much for taking the time to cover the work that we are doing to build community resilience against wildfire smoke, respiratory illness, automotive & industrial pollution, and other airborne health threats facing Chicago residents.

We are actively lending out free air purifiers and masks to Chicago-area organizations! All you need to do is register with Windy City ToolBank & Midwest Disaster Services Hub!

The nonprofit group Chi-CARN is on a mission to make clean indoor air as accessible as possible as new reports show extreme wildfires are becoming more common and their health risks may be severely underestimated.