Sarah Murphree is changing what it means to be a writer today by using storytelling as a tool for advocacy, empathy, and social change. Her debut book, I Am Human Too, moves beyond traditional memoir to amplify unheard voices and bridge the divide between the housed and unhoused, the visible and the unseen.

Who is Sarah Murphree?

Sarah Murphree is an author, actress, and mental health advocate. As the daughter of a mother with a mental health condition, she advocates as a peer educator with the program End the Silence and is a member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Sarah earned a BA in journalism, with double minors in screenwriting and theater. 

Before focusing on her own writing, she worked as a photojournalist in Haiti, Ecuador, and Nepal, highlighting the global issue of poverty. She now lives in Nashville and Los Angeles with her husband and their beloved little pug Kieto, continuing her work as a writer, actress, and mental health advocate.

A Storytelling Mission Rooted in Lived Experience

Murphree’s journey into exploring homeless conditions began with a very personal and affecting crisis: her mother’s mental health diagnosis. In the aftermath of this diagnosis, Murphree was left reeling and struggling to make sense of society’s treatment of the unhoused and those struggling with a mental health condition. 

While pursuing her journalism degree, Murphree was required to complete a three-month internship to graduate. Rather than intern at a local news station or paper on the approved list, she petitioned to work for The Amplifier—a street paper dedicated to amplifying the voices of people experiencing homelessness and providing jobs for its unhoused vendors. To her surprise, the Dean approved her request, reminding her that true journalists question everything, even a curriculum written by a Dean.

For three months, Murphree immersed herself in the community, dismantling the stereotypes she’d grown up believing—that the unhoused were dangerous or unwilling to work. What she found instead was empathy, wisdom, and faith stronger than she’d ever witnessed. When the internship ended, she couldn’t walk away. The people she’d met were no longer anonymous faces but friends. What began as a college internship turned into a multi-year commitment to documenting the lives of the unhoused, resulting in I Am Human Too. 

Unfiltered, Human-Centered Narratives

The book shares the real-life stories of 14 homeless individuals, highlighting their life stories. Each story in this book began with the same singular question, “How did you end up on the street?” From there, the individual’s story begins, taking the reader on a deeply profound journey, revealing the fourteen unforeseen, life-altering lessons of wisdom that changed Murphree’s life forever. The book challenges dominant narratives by showing who these people truly are, not problems to be solved, but humans to be known.

As a writer, Murphree was told to “write the book you want to see on the shelves.” Before beginning her project, she read everything she could find on homelessness, but few books captured the raw, human truth she was searching for. Most were written by journalists observing from the outside—or by those who had once been homeless and found a way out. But what about the people who hadn’t? That question became the heart of I Am Human Too.

Murphree wanted to tell their stories—not as a reporter, but as a friend. “How much more could we learn from a homeless person,” she wondered, “if they were our friend instead of a distant problem to be solved?” “I knew I didn’t want to write this book like a journalist,” she says. “I wanted to write it as a friend—sharing my friends’ stories with care and dignity. I wasn’t interested in exploiting anyone. I wanted readers to see people experiencing homelessness for what they are: human beings, each with a story worth telling.”

Literature as Advocacy

The book blends memoir and journalism coming from an activist’s heart, aiming not just to inform but to inspire action. Each chapter includes insights into homelessness and the systemic barriers that kept each person from finding a way out.

As Murphree says, “My hope is that readers will not only understand how easily any of us could become homeless, but also see the immense wisdom and humanity in those who already are. If this book inspires someone to get to know the unhoused in their own community, to look them in the eye and recognize them as neighbors, then it will have done what I set out to do.”

Furthermore, true to its message, a portion of the book proceeds go directly toward feeding the homeless community. As the  book cover itself reads: “This Book Feeds People.”

A Fresh Voice in Contemporary Literature

Murphree is an emerging literary talent known for her emotional depth, journalistic precision, and personal vulnerability in her work. Her writing aligns with other influential memoirists and has attracted critical attention, and is being considered for the Pulitzer Prize.

With ambitions to turn I Am Human Too into a television mini-series, Sarah Murphree aims to expand her role beyond memoirist to include screenwriting and advocacy, seeking to bring these stories to a wider audience.

To attend her debut Book Launch in Los Angeles on Oct. 17th – Grab Your Ticket Here!

To Buy the Book – Click Here!

To follow the author click here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahmurphree/