Opinion: Storytelling about homelessness may increase empathy, spur action

The homelessness crisis in the U.S. is exacerbated by a lack of empathy for unhoused people, but using storytelling might change sentiments around who is worthy of help, according to a recent commentary in Time co-authored by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Howard Koh and Amanda Yarnell.

In the Dec. 23, 2024, piece, the authors wrote that those who are made homeless due to problems such as job loss, mental health, or addiction don’t tend to receive the same level of community support as those displaced by natural disasters. But they noted that there is precedent showing that strategically deployed storytelling—in films, television, and social media content—has hanged thinking around issues such as mental health stigma and climate change, and could potentially do the same for homelessness.

Everyone can help change the narrative around homelessness by taking the time to listen to an unhoused person’s story instead of turning away, the authors added. “When we make space for these stories, we begin to reweave the ties of community that hold us together and lift us up,” they wrote.

Koh, Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, is chair of the Initiative on Health and Homelessness. Yarnell is a lecturer and senior director of the Center for Health Communication. Their co-author Jeremy Barber is a partner at United Talent Agency and a recent Harvard Divinity School graduate.

Read the commentary: Can Storytelling Help Reduce the Suffering of Homelessness?

Learn more

A new drive to end homelessness (Harvard Chan School news)