May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This year, the National Alliance on Mental Illness chose the theme “Healing begins in community.” I couldn’t agree more.
Last week, we published Anne Chan’s column on how to “Take charge of loneliness.” Many of the local psychotherapist’s suggestions centered on something simple but increasingly rare: connecting with other people. Volunteer. Take a class. Join a group. Show up somewhere regularly enough that familiar faces become part of your life.
Our publisher, Dan Pulcrano, often describes Tri-City Voice as the “paper of record” for the region. And it is. Local newspapers preserve official notices, civic actions, school board decisions, elections, milestones and community history. That role matters deeply, especially at a time when trust in institutions feels fragile.
But I think local newspapers serve another purpose that’s just as important: connection.
Tri-City Voice introduces readers to the people, businesses and organizations shaping our communities. It also publishes calendars, gatherings and local events where neighbors can meet one another face-to-face. That may sound small, but I think it’s profoundly meaningful.
The so-called “loneliness epidemic” didn’t begin with the pandemic, though Covid certainly intensified it. Years of technological change, shrinking civic participation and an economy that often prioritizes efficiency and individual achievement over human connection have left many people isolated.
In her recent book, The Beginning Comes After the End: Notes on a World of Change, Rebecca Solnit writes about the importance of interconnectedness and cooperation. She cites feminist economists Julie Graham and Katherine Gibson, who point out that despite living in a capitalist society, much of daily life still revolves around noncommercial acts of care and mutual support: friendship, volunteering, activism, conversation, caregiving, religious communities and environmental stewardship.
Those things matter because they remind us that people are not meant to function as isolated units.
I’m not arguing that capitalism itself is evil. But if modern life is producing widespread loneliness, anxiety and disconnection, then perhaps it’s time to invest more energy in the parts of life that actually sustain us: community, relationships and shared responsibility.
Healing may begin in community. But community begins with us.
