Community Members in 45 Towns - Loneliness & Connection

Tomorrow, I start walking. Over the next several weeks, The Cost of Loneliness Project will make its way across America. We're visiting 45 towns in 17 states, ending in New York City on November 12, our National Day of Connection. Along the way, we'll walk through communities large and small. We'll meet people where they live, work, learn, gather, eat, and care for one another. We'll sit around tables. We'll talk with community leaders, healthcare professionals, educators, business owners, students, families, and strangers who probably won't stay strangers for long. Mostly, we'll listen. We want to hear about the connection that's already happening in this country, and from the people who are still looking for it. Loneliness is more than a feeling. When it becomes chronic, it takes a real toll on our physical health, our emotional well-being, our workplaces, our families, our communities. This walk isn't about what's wrong with us... it's about what's possible between us. I believe we can build communities where people know they belong and know they matter. Where checking on someone is just what you do. Where gathering is something we plan for, not something that happens by accident. Where we treat connection as essential to our health as anything else we do to take care of ourselves. And where our homes, workplaces, schools, healthcare systems, neighborhoods, and public spaces are built with human connection in mind, not as an afterthought. That kind of cultural shift doesn't happen because one organization wills it into being. It happens because millions of us decide to build it together. So as I lace up my shoes, I'm asking you to come with us. Follow along on our LinkedIn page, our website, and our other social channels: https://lnkd.in/eYDD3Ujm. We'll be sharing the people we meet, the stories we hear, and what we're learning about belonging and connection across America. And do one more thing while you're at it: start planning for November 12 now. Our National Day of Connection isn't something to just observe. Make it yours. Bring people together for a meal. Reach out to someone you've lost touch with. Start something in your workplace, your school, your neighborhood. Invite someone in. Make room at the table. To everyone who's poured into this before the first step, especially Courtney Lewis, Matt Cook, Scott Moody, Ryan Riccordella, Evelyn Lane, Grace Franklin, Bailey Birtchet, Sarah Anderson, Nick Rogers, Kayla Smith, George Nesbitt, and Gracely Murphrey, thank you. We'll share more ways to participate as the date gets closer. For now: follow along, join us when we're near you, and send us your stories. We're walking across America, but building a culture of connection is going to take all of us. Today, we begin. I can't wait to see who we meet."