Goal: Increase social connectedness in multiple settings, including schools, workplaces, and community, faith-based, cultural, and social organizations.

Objective: Enhance feelings of belonging and connectedness to others to protect against feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Action Steps:

1. Cultivate spaces, activities, and events for people to meet and engage in shared activities. 

• Ensure that spaces and events are accessible, culturally appropriate, and inclusive for the identified population. This can be done through food, music, entertainment, and the physical environment to create a welcoming and inviting space. 

2. Promote social connectedness at the workplace by offering:

• Community-oriented volunteer opportunities
• Mentorship and peer support programs for connection
• Employee wellness programs, and incentives, that promote physical and mental health

3. Provide intentional outreach to individuals experiencing or at risk of isolation, such as older adults, people living with disabilities or mental health struggles, and rural communities.

4. Encourage faith-based organizations to participate in community engagement and outreach.

5. Encourage schools to educate youth and adults on strategies to foster social connectedness. 

6. Support youth to develop meaningful and respectful relationships with their peers.

7. Ensure that schools prioritize that all youth have a trusted adult, in addition to a parent, that they feel comfortable talking to. 

8. Encourage schools to deepen community collaborations that provide a wide range of opportunities for ALL students to socially connect with adults and peers.

Relationship Mapping is a process that visually maps the connections every student in a school has to any adults in the school. The mapping process can identify gaps in student relationships, revealing youth who may be isolated and in need of support from trusted adults. The most thorough mapping process asks the adults to identify which students they have a rapport with as well as asks the students which adults they trust in the building.