We live in an age in which facts have become suspect, and attention spans have eroded. We consume the majority of our news through television and online media sources that skew toward confirmation bias and clickbait rather than genuine, shared concerns. We often hear about complicated social issues — in broad sweeps, or through polarizing rhetoric, without gaining a deep understanding of the complexities that often tether these issues together.

Anastasia Fair confesses that she once walked past the homeless inhabitants of Kansas City with very little empathy. “I’d be, like, ‘just go to a shelter or something,’” she recalls. “But when you actually experience it, it’s totally different.” Fair has now been homeless, herself, for more than a year, an experience she says is marked by an endless succession of daily waits.