Residents Of Arlington's Highland House Start Conversation On Loneliness, Isolation

ARLINGTON, VA — A short film featuring residents of an Arlington group home highlights friendship and loneliness among people with and without intellectual disabilities.

Created by the disability-inclusive company Everable, the seven-minute film, “Loneliness Isn’t Inevitable — See Why,” debuted Sunday at the Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse.

Director Michael McDonald recorded more than 18 hours of interviews about loneliness and friendship with residents of Highland House, which is located in Arlington and operated by L’Arche of Greater Washington, D.C.

“People with disabilities experience loneliness in such poignant ways,” said Lauren Palmer Jansen, communications coordinator with L’Arche. “How we as a society are isolating, especially people with disabilities in a lot of ways, and where we’re not necessarily immune to that, but as an intentional community, we have a response to this epidemic, and that's our relationship with each other.”

In 2023, the U.S. surgeon general released the advisory “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation,” that said about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness.

The release of the film was timed to coincide with the start of Loneliness Awareness Week, which runs from June 9-15. The effort is aimed at raising awareness of loneliness and isolation among people with and without disabilities.

Luke Smith, L’Arche’s executive director, sees the film as an opportunity to raise awareness of loneliness in the community, with a marginalized group of people, those with an intellectual disability, leading the conversation.

“We believe that this is the moment for us to really amplify those voices and to change the needle on where we're going as society in our local neighborhoods,” he said.

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