The Importance of Empathy in Service: Comparing Traditional Service Models and Mutual Aid

While some argue that traditional service models offer support, they can also create hierarchies. Mutual aid is the best type of service because the empathy you learn in the process of volunteering for a mutual aid organization, allows people’s needs to be best met. In traditional service models, like nonprofits and charities, the focus is mainly on the service provider and the work they do. However, mutual aid models are grounded in the notion that everyone has needs that need to be met, and communities have a wealth of cultural value that we can learn from.

In particular, the practice of mutual aid is the optimal method for organizations aiming to aid unhoused populations. To understand why, an understanding of the root causes of the issue is essential. Structural injustices such as unaffordable housing and discrimination force individuals out of their homes, resulting in high rates of homelessness in these areas. Additionally, shelters that aim to help house these individuals can often be unsafe and unsanitary for those staying there. A report from KQED titled “Why Do Thousands of L.A.’s Homeless Shelter Beds Sit Empty Each Night? Rats, Roaches, Bedbugs, Mold,” outlines the issues with shelters in Los Angeles shelters in the following excerpt, “Reviews conducted at 60 shelters funded by LAHSA last year found more than half — 33 — were not filling all of their beds. Overall, LAHSA-funded shelters had a 78 percent utilization rate, well below the 90 percent required in their contracts. Monitors also found that 25 of those facilities were failing to meet the minimum standards required by their contracts to get people off the streets for good.” These statistics show how shelters are struggling to meet the guidelines needed to run their shelter effectively, and they receive little assistance and funding from the government to improve their shelter, causing more than half the shelters in the study not to fill all of their beds. The reason why people who are homeless choose to stay in tents as opposed to shelters is best exemplified in Craig Aslin’s testimony on why he chooses to live in a tent, he reflects on his shelter experience in a KQED article: “‘It sucked,’ he said. ‘I got [eaten] up with bedbugs.’ He says his tent is cleaner, he doesn’t have to deal with people he doesn’t like, and he can come and go as he pleases. ‘I live better now than I did then, I mean for real,’ he said.”

The housing crisis, specifically in Los Angeles’ Skid Row, originated in 1976 as a zone for shelters and services. Since then, higher housing costs and lack of resources available to unhoused populations have exacerbated the crisis. Later, in 1987, crackdowns LAPD conducted several sweeps of the area but was abandoned because of the resistance it received from groups that advocate for the homeless. Since then, the population of Skid Row has grown, and various organizations are aiming to help the area, such as groups like WaterDropLA which distributes clean water and other necessities to people experiencing water insecurity across Southern California.

For those who are volunteering with organizations like WaterDropLA, practicing empathy and understanding decreases the power dynamics between the two parties engaged in service, which will have both groups leaving the encounter having benefited. Developing personal qualities like empathy and appreciation for a community’s cultural wealth are crucial in participating in good service, as they allow the volunteer to more efficiently help the member of the community by identifying their needs, as well as give the volunteer a better understanding of the community’s situation. By learning people’s stories, volunteers can build empathy, and work to undo the typical power dynamics in traditional service, where the power is concentrated on the person providing the service.

Service practices that are based on the ideals of mutual aid, rather than the power dynamics of traditional service prove to be more beneficial for both groups because these organizations do not operate as a business does, rather they operate with a horizontal structure, where everyone has a voice in decisions and they focus their resources on meeting the needs of the community. For Water Drop, in addition to raising awareness and dropping off water, they focus on the long-term change they can bring to the community as well through policy advocacy.

In contrast to mutual aid, conventional charity models have the potential to reinforce “savior complexes,” and subsequently result in less meaningful work because these organizations overlook the importance of appreciation for a community’s cultural wealth. Yet, this structure for charity remains prevalent due to the social structures and traditions of charity in American culture. In an article from The Social Change Agency titled, “Why the traditional charity model is broken and how to fix it” the author identifies the problem with charities that only raise funds to give to the groups they support: “I see too many charities run along a conventional business model in which your strategy is about how you run your organization, with passive beneficiaries receiving your services and the role of the supporter base is also relatively passive, providing cash to fund the work. That leads to the conventional, transactional marketing approach which is about marketing products and offers to get cash out of people, to help your beneficiary group with only the charity in a wholly active role.” This model is very limiting however as it only offers aid in one format, but there is much more value that could be offered to the organization beyond just monetary needs. For example, a volunteer’s time, voice, advocacy, ideas, and social capital are important as well to aid the community the volunteer is serving.

Through face-to-face connection and service with organizations like Water Drop LA, volunteers can build empathy by forging relationships and engaging in good service. By listening to members of the community’s lived experiences, we can respect and work with that community to help them. Building these relationships can also break down preconceived notions and assumptions that are made about communities. For example, the cause of homelessness is often depicted in the media as being a result of drugs and mental illness, but the article “Cause of homelessness? It’s not drugs or mental illness, researchers say” from the New York Times disproves this theory by bringing to light the root issue of homelessness is actually affordable housing. Yet, the article acknowledges that if you were to ask almost anyone for their thoughts on what causes homelessness, their answers would range from drug addiction, mental illness, alcoholism, and poverty. One way to rewrite this narrative is by talking and listening to those affected by homelessness, such as Jossalyn, a homeless woman in Los Angeles who shared her experiences with homelessness in a video for the organization Invisible People. In the interview, Jossalyn states the reason she’s homeless in Los Angeles is becuase, “I try to get someplace off the street when I can. If we had more affordable housing — it’s not that we don’t have a lot of housing, it’s whether you can afford to live in it. With utilities and rent and everything else, it’s just impossible for me to afford anywhere to stay.” Her story is like many others who are homeless, and by hearing the story on an individual level, the reality of homelessness becomes much clearer, and more empathy can be built for those affected.

Through understanding the lived experiences of individuals facing homelessness, volunteers can grow empathy through conversation and forging relationships to better understand their situation and offer the most effective aid possible. Ultimately, mutual aid is the optimal method for organizations aiming to aid unhoused populations since it focuses on meeting the needs of a community through meaningful work. When volunteers develop a deeper appreciation for the cultural wealth of a community and build relationships with those who are a part of it, they can make a significant impact and work towards making long-term change with the new empathy and understanding they have acquired.