Connect Local
Photo by Donna Abbott-Vlahos in Albany Business Review
I remember walking around my Brooklyn neighborhood in April 2020 and noticing that I could only compare how I was feeling to a few tough moments on my solo trip to Kenya and Uganda. That is when I felt completely disconnected from those around me. It was one of those challenging times during the pandemic when I was a pod of one and my loneliness was palpable.
Of course, here we are three years later and things seem almost “normal.” I spent the last year and half getting back out in the world and visiting friends and family. I have attended all of the "in real life" celebrations I can get to and have enjoyed doing more in-person programming. But still there are moments when my decision to move cities during the pandemic affects my life and I feel a little lonely.
The reality is that I spent the first year into my move connecting with people virtually from my tiny home office and only minimally interacting with the community around me. It has only been more recently that I have turned my attention and curiosity toward making local social connections and learning about the community I am living in.
We all feel a little lonely at times, but the recent Surgeon General report, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community,” outlines just how important social connection is to individuals and communities.1 It notes that even though the pandemic exacerbated this disconnection, we were already rather disconnected before; for example, in 2018 only 16% percent of Americans reported that they felt “very attached to their local community.”
The good news is social connection in local communities makes everything better.
“Higher levels of social connectedness suggest better community outcomes, ranging from population health to community safety, resilience, prosperity, and representative government.”
A few data highlights from the Surgeon General report:
Social connection increases the odds of survival by 50%
Counties with strong social ties experienced fewer deaths during the pandemic
People prepare for, respond to, and recover more quickly from extreme weather and natural disasters in connected communities
A measurable increase in social connectedness was associated with a 21% reduction in murders and a 20% reduction in motor vehicle thefts in a recent study on community violence
I encourage you to check out the full report, but one of the findings that really got me was that only 3 in 10 Americans report knowing all or most of their neighbors. So my key takeaway: we all need to get out there and connect with our neighbors.
On my end, this means I will not be planning any virtual gatherings for the rest of the summer. I will instead be focusing on connecting with my local community and working with individuals and organizations in their communities to do the same. That and hopefully making a few new friends…
If you want to plan a program to increase social connection in your community, please get in touch!
1“Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Healing Effects of Social Connection and Community.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Published May 3, 2023. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf