Recent studies have shown that Americans are experiencing a loneliness epidemic. The Surgeon General’s advisory in 2023 detailed how loneliness and isolation contribute to premature death, increased risk of depression, anxiety, obesity, dementia and other poor health outcomes. Robert Putnam wrote that the decline of Americans joining groups and associations has declined significantly over the past one hundred years. This decline has been accelerated by television, the Internet, social media, drugs, and other factors.
These effects are well understood, however, a significant, under-appreciated factor is how the decline in trust and social capital has impeded the ability of communities to function as communities instead of simply being a group of individuals living adjacent to each other. The lack of social capital shows itself in any number of major and minor ways:
Crime – the insensitivity to both individuals and the wider consequences to a community over time deteriorates social capital. The more stores that get robbed, the less likely they are to continue operations. This is a significant contributing factor to food and service deserts.
Heightened costs for security – the toll of crime and distrust have a ripple economic effect as people have to spend more money on locks, alarm systems, and other measures. Compare this way of living to communities where there is no need to lock the back door or the car. It’s increasingly unimaginable for most of us.
Homelessness – have you ever been on a street and seen a homeless person urinating in a corner? Because social structures broke down in some way for that person, he or she has lost their duty to care as well.
Lack of care for public spaces – Graffiti can be beautiful, but most of it is just mindless scribble. Similarly, a community’s façade – it’s “curb appeal” – has a surprisingly sizable impact on how residents and outsiders feel about it. Taking care of public spaces is the positive complement to the “Broken Window” theory. If attention is paid to the little things, the big things become more important.
Lack of neighborliness – Sadly, most people don’t know their neighbors very well. They are better connected to their communities of interest online. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that he hated big cities – which for him was 20,000 people – because the relative obscurity and lack of neighborliness could lead to more vice, isolation, and despair. On the flip side, everyone celebrates how the Amish help each other out with barn raisings and more.
Under delivery of services – a senior fellow of ISD, Dr. Monica Sanders, has been documenting how the lower income neighborhoods of Washington, DC access services. According to her researchers, buses tend to be late, garbage isn’t as promptly picked up, and internet services haven’t been built out in these neighborhoods.
Lack of Kindness – courtesy has a powerful social benefit. It helps to make people valued and can expedite service. Conversely, rudeness does the opposite. It creates a downward spiral of hostility, that, particularly in gang territories, can lead to violence and even death.
Low income communities suffer the most from these deficits. As a result, they are more likely to suffer from food and service deserts, poor education and employment outcomes, heightened per capita illness and hopelessness, and violence.
As important as it is to remedy the economic deserts, physical infrastructure, education, and workforce development deficits in these communities, it is equally important to pay attention to strategies that build up trust and social connectedness as well. Some may scoff, but programs that encourage street festivals and fairs, community breakfasts, and increased interactions are very important for the future. This is why ISD Fellows and Senior Advisors devote so much attention to this issue.
Karla Ballard, CEO of Ying, created an online barter program for low income residents to exchange services to each other in lieu of cash.
Tomme Beevas opened up his restaurant, Pimento Jamaican Kitchen, to the community and played a pivotal role in bringing people to a common table in Minneapolis.
ISD as a whole specializes in building partnerships to “connect the dots” between and among “First Mile” community service providers and “Last Mile” residents who need support the most.
Part of ISD’s theory of change is that there exist a number of resources to support LMI and marginalized communities. Federal agencies like HUD, Commerce, HHS, SBA, and others have a wealth of programs. State and local governments often have their own programs too. Charities and foundations are set up to meet specific, under-served needs. Many companies offer discounts or even free products to different groups.
However, many people are not aware of these programs. They do not know how to access them, and when they do try to apply, the application processes can be very cumbersome. So, one strategy to correct this is to gather information about all of these programs and put them at the fingertips of people who need them the most. ISD does this through its online Disaster Resource Center and Help Line. We also send staff, fellows, and volunteers out to street fairs and farmers markets to pass out informational one-pagers and ask people in the community about what they need.
For the past several years, we have been the creation of a community resilience network in Los Angeles called Together for LA (TFLA). The goal of TFLA is to build connections, understanding, and respect between and among the different sectors that support community development, resilience, and disaster recovery.
Bottom line – the more connectivity there is in a community, the more likely it is for the community to fix what’s wrong with itself by leveraging what’s right. This is the basis for ISD’s community resilience and connectivity program.
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