Surveys show an increase in loneliness among Americans, according to a comprehensive report published in 2023 by Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, the former U.S. Surgeon General. According to the report, for people aged 15 to 24, time spent face-to-face with friends has decreased by nearly 70 percent since 2003.

Amidst this growing loneliness crisis, high school faculty and members of Brookline’s Health Department have launched creative initiatives to promote social connection for both students and town members.

Guidance Department Chair Darby Neff-Verre, who has worked at the high school for 10 years, said loneliness has always been a constant for many students and was exacerbated by the pandemic.

“Personal connection and being able to be with people was obviously really stunted for at least a year and a half for all of us,” Neff-Verre said. “For some people, they were able to connect. For a lot of people, that was harder for them. I think it’s been particularly hard for some people to move away from that feeling of isolation.”

Darlene Johnson, Brookline’s Community Health Manager, said she has also seen a rise in loneliness among Brookline residents. In response, Johnson created her own initiative to combat loneliness in the town of Brookline, called Community Connections. Through Community Connections, she plans to organize opportunities for community members to get to know each other and build lasting relationships.

Johnson’s kickoff to Community Connections was a kindness-card-making session that took place in Town Hall on Feb. 13. In the first session of a two-part series, participants, mainly Town Hall employees, crafted colorful and uplifting cards that would later be distributed to random passersby on the streets of Brookline. On Feb. 18, residents had the opportunity to come to Town Hall to pair up with someone else in the community and distribute the cards.

“What we’re doing is trying to address loneliness here in Brookline,” Johnson said. “I know that for some people, it’s harder for them to make connections with people. So we’re trying to create opportunities for people to meet other people in the community and create relationships.”

At the high school, faculty are implementing similar strategies, including once-a-week “lunch lounges” for students looking to connect with others.

“We’re trying to offer spaces where students can come and not feel alone. They can connect, meet other students, play games, look at silly videos on YouTube together, and have lunch without feeling like they’re kind of tucked away and unseen in the building,” Neff-Verre said. “We are trying a lot of creative different ways to help people feel like they can find their people here at Brookline High School.”

Johnson said she hopes to hold Community Connections events at least three times a year. She said one objective of the program is eventually the formation of groups who can work with a Brookline resident that specializes in loneliness.

“We’re hoping that some of these events will generate interest, so that people will join those groups, and [the loneliness specialist] can help them with conversation starters or any other related issues related to loneliness, like depression or weight gain,” Johnson said. “That’s the goal for Community Connections: to create groups and have people really get to know each other.”

Junior Ella Ngo-Miller said that while there is loneliness in the high school, they think the Brookline community is also very tight-knit and there are ways to find groups of people to connect with.

“I think joining together through hobbies and activities is probably the best way to form a community in Brookline,” Ngo-Miller said. “There are also clubs within the school that are very helpful.”

Johnson said her favorite thing about the Brookline community is how engaged its members are.

“Residents are always willing to get involved and see how they can help and what they can do,” Johnson said. “People are really caring for each other and supportive of each other.”