We are at war, in America, with empathy. Every day, state and national leaders introduce bills designed to stigmatize, strip resources from, and publicly target those they view as other than human: immigrants, people experiencing homelessness and LGBTQ children, to name a few. The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right of Grants Pass, Oregon to fine homeless people for sleeping outside when no shelters are available is both cruel and ineffective. Choosing criminalization over solving for homelessness through large-scale public investments in affordable housing and raising the substandard wages of working people demonstrates an alarming lack of empathy. In this episode of Power Station, I speak with Mark Horvath, founder of Invisible People, the sole nonprofit newsroom dedicated to deepening our connections to and understanding of homelessness. Mark was a successful media executive who became homeless after losing his job. When he got back on his feet, he set a new course for his life. Invisible People’s videos, documentaries and news stream are deeply impactful windows into the world of our national housing crisis. Mark’s work is moving some policymakers to legislate with empathy, our underestimated superpower.

 

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