Facing an Epidemic – Together: How The Barton Institute and Our Partners Build Community Connection

Last year, the US Surgeon General published a landmark report on the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation facing people throughout our country. He made the scientifically-supported case that loneliness can be more dangerous to a person’s health than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Fortunately, he said, we have “a medicine hiding in plain sight: social connection.”

Every day at the Barton Institute, we witness our communities building their way out of this epidemic as they create places and practices that boost connection. Their approaches align with the six pillars of the Surgeon General’s National Strategy to Advance Social Connection.

Pillar 1: Strengthen Social Infrastructure

The Surgeon General reports that “connections are not just influenced by individual interactions, but by the physical elements of a community.” This finding is at the heart of the Barton Institute’s mission to support leaders and their communities who are working to develop and foster places for opportunity, connection, and belonging in Metro Denver.

At the corner of 14th and Elmira in Aurora, the Village Institute has created such a place, and within its walls, refugee families come together to build wealth, worth, and well-being. Through programs that reach across languages, young people gather in a space they have designed themselves to explore careers in health care and mental health. Multilingual teachers in vibrant classrooms offer early childhood education to children from a wide range of backgrounds. The children’s parents, many of them single mothers from myriad countries, are also creating connection and community.

In Southwest Denver, Commún and their neighbors are creating the Loretto Heights Community Center, a 40,000-square-foot building that was the student union and cafeteria at the former site of a historic women’s college. Their ideas include a pay-what-you-can grocery store, a multi-ethnic food hall run by local entrepreneurs, and trauma-informed spaces for gathering and community building.

Pillar 2: Enact Pro-Connection Public Policies

All levels of government can help combat the loneliness epidemic through policies that recognize the importance of community and social connection. Each of the program partners of the Barton Institute benefits from partnerships with policymakers. Commún receives funding through the City and County of Denver to support distribution of food from local growers within their neighborhoods. Food Justice NW Aurora collaborates with City of Aurora staff and elected officials to integrate food and agriculture strategies into plans and policies that support community gardens and cultural markets, which has benefits for both social connections and access to nourishing food. The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative works with government entities throughout Denver Metro to ensure that zoning and funding are in place to support parking lots where people who are living in their vehicles can park safely overnight.

Pillar 3: Mobilize the Health Sector

“Social connection is an independent protective factor, and social isolation and loneliness are independent risk factors for several major health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and premature mortality from all causes.”

In Colorado, we are fortunate to have a network of funders who recognize that investing in health means investing in community. The Colorado Health Foundation, the Colorado Trust, and the Caring for Denver Foundation are three examples of entities that recognize community-based organizations are often the most effective in responding to health needs.

Village Institute receives funding from Colorado Health Foundation to support its Peer-to-Peer Wellness Workshops, run by and for teens and young adults from refugee communities. They cover topics like culture shock, mental health first aid, healthcare navigation, trauma and recovery, and strategies for self-care and burnout prevention.

The Colorado Trust, another health-conversion foundation, supports Commún in their work to create the Loretto Heights Community Center.

On Tuesday nights, Commún draws up to ninety neighbors together for a “family dinner” and then they split into facilitated groups, including groups for teens, parents, and older adults. Supported by the Caring for Denver Foundation, this weekly tradition is building mental health as a community practice in Southwest Denver.

Pillar 4: Reform Digital Environments

As technology grows in its influence on people and the communities in which they live, it is essential to work against the ability of social media and other technologies to distract and separate people from one another. Much of the work on technology reform is being done at the national level. However, Barton Institute program partners are proactive in using social media to facilitate connection. Through Facebook, the Village Institute mobilizes support for their community members through volunteer and fundraising initiatives, Commún shares information about in-person gatherings and food programs, and the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative issues calls for supplies like hand warmers and sleeping bags.

Pillar 5: Deepen Our Knowledge

This pillar describes the need to support research and increase public awareness of the role of social connection in health and wellbeing. In its early years at the University of Denver, the Barton Institute launched the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab, which works with state and local governments to provide the data to fuel its work. One example is Fostering Opportunities. The data collected is supporting Jefferson County as they help students in foster care succeed in and graduate from high school.

Another approach to deepening knowledge and public outreach is community organizing. Food Justice NW Aurora and Commún both have community organizers on their teams to listen to and collect information about what people in their communities need to thrive, and then to help them take action.

Pillar 6: Cultivate a Culture of Connection

Every one of the Barton Institute’s program partners cultivates “values of kindness, respect, service, and commitment to one another” – the essential elements the Surgeon General has identified to create a culture of connection. They also “model connection values in position of leadership and influence.” The Village Institute staff and board of directors include many people who themselves have backgrounds in the immigrant and refugee communities. Food Justice NW Aurora is led by a steering committee of resident leaders who represent a vast number of cultures and approaches to food justice. The Colorado Safe Parking Initiative’s strategic plan was driven by conversations with people who live in their safe lots. And Commún holds space for people to communicate in “the language of their heart” by providing translation and interpretation in English, Spanish, and Arabic, and ensuring that all important decisions are made by the community as a whole.

Spreading the word

We at the Barton Institute are inspired every day by these practices that build community. It is our goal to ensure each of our partners can grow and thrive, while we also encourage others to follow their examples and adopt their practices. Together, we can create the places and connections that support healthy, vibrant communities. When we shine the light on what works in community building, we see the path that leads past the dangerous epidemic of isolation.