Finding community just became easier with new online directory
Risa Gomez sees what many Richmonders do: Chatting with each other online is a poor substitute for actual community.
But she's doing something about it.
“The former surgeon general released a white paper about the loneliness epidemic. I think it's just been this trend of disconnection,” she said. “And I think social media has a lot to do with it. I think people are waking up to the fact that social media is providing a hollow connection. It is really not fulfilling them. You get all these likes and all these comments, but it's not truly genuinely fulfilling people. You still feel lonely.”
With those barometers in mind, Gomez started collecting information on how and where Richmonders are meeting up, which ultimately became the Social Connectory.
The spark for the idea came about after attending an event put on by The Richmonder.
“The Richmonder hosted a documentary screening of 'Join or Die,' she said. “It's the idea of the decline of civic engagement and how it's an effect on the health of the community and the fabric of community.”
During a Q&A session after the screening, she said people began saying that it would be great to have some way for Richmonders to know how to get engaged.
“There's not a central resource for things that are coming up in civic government or how to join a bowling league. People can Google, but you can only find so much through Google,” Gomez said. “I just started collecting things on this spreadsheet. I follow a few specific social media influencers. I started collecting these clubs that I could find on Instagram. And the spreadsheet started growing and growing.”
While collecting data, Gomez also started working with a web developer and with brand development and social media creator Hannah Sikora, who, like Gomez, says the name “Social Connectory” is a play on the word directory.
“So it's like an old school phone book directory and being a social connector,” said Sikora. “That's what I think she is and what a lot of people in Richmond are. It's a small town, small city. And we all are constantly like, ‘Are you going to this thing? Do you know this person?’ That name came about to be a connector.”
And the site is literally that – a connector. It links users to where other organizations are posting their events. Gomez said the Richmond community already has some great resources, such as those posted in CultureWorks, Style Weekly and RIC Today.
“They do a really great job at consolidating events and doing weekly updates of things to do. So I didn't want to recreate that because that's already out there in multiple places,” Gomez said, adding that there’s also a ton of great LGBTQ+ resources out there too, that her site points to.
“I'm not recreating those things, but I am pointing to them. I'm kind of a concierge, not a competitor sort of thing,” said Gomez, whose license plate is a condensing of the phrase "I show up."
Sarah Vogelsong
Connecting people
Matt Adkins knows all about the loneliness epidemic. The licensed counselor in Chesterfield County meets with clients who are experiencing it all the time.
“So many psychological and emotional problems are [the] result of feelings of disconnection, whether it's disconnection from community, nature and the environment,” Adkins said. “These are all things that show up in a therapeutic environment.”
For years he has been looking for ways to help his clients find ways to reconnect with people in person. That’s why he was happy to stumble across the website.
“I don't remember exactly how I found it. But I'm certain that it came out of my work with a client, trying to help them find ways of finding connection in the community,” he said. “This is always a recurring theme in my work is that I have a lot of people that report feeling disconnected, feeling isolated, and not knowing where to find community. So I end up as a therapist oftentimes trying to help them find ways to connect.”
The site debuted in March and now includes 11 categories — from civic engagement opportunities to coworking spaces to theater and music calendars, as well as places to volunteer.
“There are so many nonprofits that do such great things in Richmond,” said Gomez. “And people know that I volunteer and I'm always getting asked, ‘How do I volunteer? What do I volunteer for? How do I really get engaged?’ So I list a lot of great nonprofits. Right now it's over 460 things.”
Her work in Richmond's community goes back years.
“I've always been involved in the community,” she said. “I volunteer a lot for a lot of different things: VPM Community Advisory Board, on the board of Bridge Park. I was on the organizing committee for TEDxRVA, TEDxGreyStreetWomen, RVA MakerFest. I do a lot with Richmond Folk Fest, too.”
Michael Phillips
There are no plans to monetize the site, though Gomez said she does hope to sell banner ads as a way to help with the minimal costs.
“It's primarily the only way I'm going to raise any revenue for my hosting fees and for marketing,” she said. “And I want to feature organizations in that banner ad space that have that like-minded community sense.”
Adkins said he’s passed the site along to not only his clients but to his therapist colleagues as well.
“The response has been really good. This is the kind of thing that I think oftentimes people are overwhelmed by,” Adkins said. “They know that they want connection. They know that it is out there. But then where to find it becomes a very overwhelming task and I see a lot of people just kind of give up because it's too much to figure out on their own.”
