1005 - Finding Your Community and Helping Others Find Theirs
Jan Hincapie, Retired Parks and Recreation Director
What is community? It is a group of people with common characteristics or interests living together within a society. Did you know that 61% of Americans said they were lonely in 2019, even before the pandemic? This statistic is up from 54% in 2018. What can we, as parks and recreation professionals, do to address this shocking statistic? Learn the importance of finding a community, barriers to finding a community, why in-person communities are better than those online, and how you can help others combat loneliness and find “their people.” You will also hear about some communities that work and how you might establish a call to action for the people you serve.
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn the meaning of community and seven barriers that get in the way of people finding community.
- Learn 12 places to create or find a community, 15 benefits of finding a community, and why face-to-face is better than online.