For this week’s column, I wanted to share my thanks to all of you for taking the time to read, share your insights, and spread the word about services to support all of us as we age. So many of you comment on how the information has helped you, your family, or your friends. In that spirit, I want to share that Saturday, September 28 is “Good Neighbor Day” across Massachusetts. This is a day where everyone is encouraged to reach out to their neighbors and offer an act of kindness and goodwill. My colleague, Sandra Harris, is one of the leaders of the Massachusetts Coalition to End Loneliness and wrote the following to help promote Good Neighbor Day. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Stronger, safer, healthier…together
By Sandra Harris
Last year, many of us took notice when the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory report calling attention to the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation in our country. The report noted that nearly half of all Americans reported feeling lonely (even before COVID and its debilitating isolation). It quoted startling research that found that loneliness is as dangerous to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, leading to a raft of bad health and mental health outcomes including heart disease, diabetes, and depression.
The report sounded an alarm and challenged us to consider our growing sense of isolation; and slowly, tentatively many of us started to respond. Whether it was joining running or walking clubs, returning to community or senior centers, rejoining the church choir, or volunteering at a local school, we began to rediscover the profound power of social connections, of belonging.
These are hopeful signs, but as the Surgeon General’s report noted, there are larger forces at work. Social media divides us as much as links us. ATMs, self-check outs, and even automated Help Desks mean we interact less and less with real people. Remote work is convenient, but there is a palpable difference between a Zoom and a live meeting.
Thinking and acting collectively
While each of us thinks about and looks for groups and ways to connect, we need city-, town- and community-level interventions to provide more, and more accessible ways for us all to come together.
Local governments, as our communities’ representative bodies, must do their part, building welcoming public spaces that encourage us to meet and greet one another and creating programs and services that provide bridges across racial, ethnic, religious lines and all ages. Support for libraries and schools, for example, can ensure that these are sites not only of learning but of gathering.
Faith-based organizations, service groups, clubs–all these organizations exist to meet a common need and in one way or another bring us together. They provide opportunities to serve and help. They must continue to reach out across neighborhoods to diverse groups of people. These groups can be a community’s emotional engine, driving a renewed sense of optimism, innovation, and social health.
In all of this work, we need to rebuild our sense of community and connection, prioritizing and promoting values that bring us closer together. Simple acts of kindness can bridge the gap between strangers and create lasting bonds. Respect is equally crucial, as it lays the foundation for trust and understanding in our diverse society. Finally, care for one another is the glue that holds communities together, ensuring that no one is left behind or forgotten.
A Day of Community Connection and Action
Here at the Massachusetts Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness, we’re inviting everyone across the state to join us in a Good Neighbor Day of Action on September 28, 2024. It’s an opportunity for governments, communities, and groups to step up, come together, and start to re-stitch our social fabric. Many events are already being planned including community movie screenings, intergenerational picnics and potlucks, a “Community Repair” fair where people bring things that need fixing, neighborhood scavenger hunts, and much more.
The office of Governor Maura Healey has proclaimed September 28, “Good Neighbor Day” across the Commonwealth. As the proclamation notes, “all residents are encouraged to join in this celebration by reaching out to their neighbors, extending acts of kindness and goodwill, and fostering strong bonds within our communities.” This day can accelerate the process of building stronger, more connected communities that will sustain us well beyond this one-day event.
Too many of us feel disconnected from the people we love, live, and work around. We need to rebuild these very human connections because–as a Commonwealth, as communities, as organizations, and as individuals–we are stronger, safer, and healthier together.
Are you caring for an older adult or need help finding healthy aging resources? Our experienced staff is available to help. Visit us online at www.agespan.org. You can also call 800-892-0890 or email info@agespan.org.
Joan Hatem-Roy is the chief executive officer of AgeSpan, which serves the following cities and towns: Amesbury, Andover, Billerica, Boxford, Chelmsford, Danvers, Dracut, Dunstable, Georgetown, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Peabody, Rowley, Salisbury, Salem, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford, and West Newbury.
First published in the Eagle-Tribune.
