Celebrity support can bring money, media attention and new volunteers to organizations fighting homelessness. Some celebrities make occasional donations. Others spend years building organizations, funding housing, advocating for policy changes and working directly with nonprofit groups.

The celebrities below have documented records of supporting people experiencing homelessness. This list is reviewed and expanded as new information becomes available.

Celebrities Who Help Fight Homelessness

1. Jon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi has made homelessness and affordable housing a major part of his philanthropic work for nearly two decades.

Founded in 2006, the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation works to break the cycle of poverty, hunger and homelessness through partnerships, programs and grants.

The foundation reports supporting nearly 1,000 units of affordable and supportive housing across 12 states. Its projects have assisted individuals and families including young people and veterans.

Bon Jovi also operates JBJ Soul Kitchen community restaurants, where paying customers can help provide meals for people experiencing food insecurity.

 

2. Prince William

Prince William has worked on homelessness issues for years and made the issue one of the major social initiatives of the Royal Foundation.

In 2023, Prince William and The Royal Foundation launched Homewards, a five-year program working with communities across the United Kingdom.

The goal is not simply to manage homelessness after it occurs. Homewards focuses on prevention and aims to demonstrate that homelessness can become rare, brief and unrepeated.

The initiative works with local organizations, government agencies, businesses and community leaders to develop solutions based on the needs of each participating community.

 

3. Richard Gere

Actor Richard Gere has been a longtime supporter of New York City’s Coalition for the Homeless.

His involvement has included fundraising, public advocacy and efforts to change public perceptions of people experiencing homelessness.

Gere’s 2014 film Time Out of Mind, in which he portrayed a man experiencing homelessness in New York, became another platform for discussing housing insecurity, mental health and the way unhoused people are often ignored.

His advocacy has continued beyond the film. In 2023, Gere narrated a Coalition for the Homeless campaign defending New York’s legal Right to Shelter.

 

4. Michael Sheen

Welsh actor Michael Sheen has used his public platform extensively to advocate for people experiencing homelessness.

Sheen is a champion of the Homeless World Cup, an international organization that uses football to support people who have experienced homelessness and social exclusion.

When Cardiff hosted the Homeless World Cup in 2019, Sheen became one of the event’s most visible supporters and helped encourage a broader public discussion about homelessness in Wales.

He has emphasized that homelessness cannot be solved simply by putting people inside buildings. Stable housing must be accompanied by appropriate support and long-term solutions.

 

5. Jewel

Singer-songwriter Jewel has a personal connection to the issue. Before becoming famous, she experienced homelessness and lived in her car while trying to establish her music career.

She has since used her visibility to support vulnerable young people and organizations serving youth experiencing homelessness.

Jewel has been recognized by Covenant House as a longtime champion and has participated in its efforts to raise awareness and support for young people facing homelessness and trafficking.

Her advocacy is particularly relevant to Homeless Celebrities because it connects lived experience with later efforts to help people facing similar instability.

 

6. Cyndi Lauper

Singer Cyndi Lauper is one of the most prominent celebrity advocates working specifically on youth homelessness.

In 2008, Lauper helped found True Colors United, formerly known as the True Colors Fund. The organization focuses on ending youth homelessness, particularly among LGBTQ+ young people and other groups disproportionately affected by housing instability.

True Colors United works on advocacy, training, technical assistance and youth-led policy initiatives. Lauper has also personally advocated for action on youth homelessness, including testifying before Congress.

 

7. Miley Cyrus

Miley Cyrus founded the Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014. The nonprofit supports homeless youth, LGBTQ+ youth and other vulnerable populations.

Cyrus has used her music, celebrity platform and fundraising campaigns to bring attention to young people who lack stable housing or face discrimination and family rejection.

Happy Hippie’s operating costs are privately funded, allowing donations to go directly toward organizations and programs supporting vulnerable communities.

 

8. Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg helped turn comedy into a major fundraising vehicle for homelessness through Comic Relief USA.

Beginning in 1986, Goldberg joined Billy Crystal and Robin Williams in hosting televised Comic Relief events designed to raise awareness and money for people experiencing homelessness across the United States.

Washington, D.C. nonprofit House of Ruth records that the three comedians launched the event in 1986 and that House of Ruth became the first organization to receive a donation and personal visit.

 

9. Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal was another driving force behind Comic Relief USA. Alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Robin Williams, Crystal helped host nationally televised fundraising events that brought homelessness into millions of American homes.

The project combined entertainment with direct fundraising for organizations providing housing, health care and other services to people experiencing homelessness.

 

10. Robin Williams

The late Robin Williams was the third member of Comic Relief’s best-known hosting team.

Williams, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal repeatedly used their celebrity status and comedy to raise money and awareness for homelessness programs across the United States.

Comic Relief became an important example of celebrities doing more than making a single public appearance. The campaign continued for years and helped connect a mainstream television audience with organizations serving unhoused people.

 

11. Ariana DeBose

Academy Award-winning actor Ariana DeBose has supported Covenant House and its work with young people experiencing homelessness and trafficking.

Covenant House has identified DeBose as one of its celebrity champions supporting campaigns including the organization’s annual Sleep Out.

Sleep Out participants give up their beds for a night while raising funds and awareness for young people who do not have a safe place to sleep.

 

12. Rachel Brosnahan

Actor Rachel Brosnahan has also supported Covenant House and its campaign to end youth homelessness.

She has been included among the organization’s longtime celebrity champions participating in awareness and fundraising efforts around the annual Covenant House Sleep Out.

Covenant House provides emergency shelter, longer-term housing and supportive services for young people experiencing homelessness or trafficking.

 

13. Audra McDonald

Actor and Broadway performer Audra McDonald has lent her support to Covenant House and its work with young people facing homelessness.

She has participated as one of the organization’s public champions helping draw attention to youth homelessness and the services available to young people in crisis.

 

14. Saquon Barkley

NFL star Saquon Barkley has also supported Covenant House’s efforts to address youth homelessness.

The organization has included Barkley among the public figures supporting its Sleep Out campaign and broader work providing shelter and support to young people facing homelessness and trafficking.

 

Why Celebrity Advocacy Matters

Celebrities cannot end homelessness by themselves. Lasting progress requires housing, prevention programs, mental health services, employment opportunities, effective public policy and organizations capable of providing long-term support. What celebrities can provide is reach.

A well-known person can introduce millions of people to an organization they may never have heard of, attract donors, encourage volunteers, influence public discussion and help challenge stereotypes about people without stable housing.

The examples above also show that celebrity involvement takes many forms. Jon Bon Jovi has helped fund housing. Prince William has built a national prevention initiative. Cyndi Lauper created an organization focused on youth homelessness. Richard Gere has spent years advocating publicly. Others have used fundraising events and public campaigns to support established organizations doing the work every day.

 

Celebrity Advocates and Celebrities Who Experienced Homelessness

Advocating for people experiencing homelessness is different from personally experiencing homelessness. Homeless Celebrities maintains that distinction because accuracy matters. Someone does not belong in our database of formerly homeless celebrities simply because they support a homelessness charity.

Some people, including Jewel and Cyndi Lauper, have both experienced housing instability and later advocated for people facing homelessness. Others on this page are included solely because of their documented advocacy, fundraising or nonprofit work.

 

Help Us Keep This List Current

This is an evergreen resource. We will continue adding celebrities whose homelessness advocacy can be verified through nonprofits, foundations, first-person statements and other reliable sources. If you know of a public figure whose work should be included, contact Homeless Celebrities with a reliable source and we will review it.

Correction and fact-check note: Homeless Celebrities reviews claims before including them. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that George Clooney founded the Homeless World Cup. He did not and has been removed from this list. See our Corrections Policy for more information.