San Diego is one of the first cities to have a local chapter of the relatively new U.S. Chamber of Connection.
No, not the far more identifiable, business-oriented Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber of Connection is a civic institution dedicated to creating human connection in communities. Founded in Seattle, San Diego joins Pittsburgh, Baltimore and the San Francisco Bay Area as inaugural chapters.
Website pages for the organization said it is nonpolitical and diverse. Funding is limited at the moment to individual donors and a few national funders.
San Diego Chamber of Connection Executive Director Elizabeth Cox says helping train residents to look out for their neighbors is one of several goals.
“Knowing who your neighbors are is the number-one predictor for surviving a disaster or an emergency,” Cox said.
She said 70% of people do not have a connection with their neighbors, according to a recent San Diego study with the US Chamber of Connection.
Numerous modern-day factors are working against human connection, including political party divisions and the influence of technology that has addicted people to their phones and screens, Cox said.
She admitted this messaging may sound utopian. “I know, it’s like Mister Rogers, hey, be a good neighbor,” Cox said. “Or like the Boy Scouts who want to leave the campsite better than they found it.”
The Chamber of Connection concept may be timely.
In 2000, Harvard Professor Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone described the decline of social connection in America. In 2023 the U.S. Surgeon General declared there was an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” More recently, media headlines have pointed to a “male loneliness epidemic.”
Cox agreed that loneliness and disconnection are unfortunate trends, and when people hear her connective message they say, “yes, we need this.”
Rebecca Smith is a believer in the Chamber of Connection. The president of W2 San Diego, which is focused on helping recent high school graduates find employment, said she’s obsessed with the concept of how people make friends.
Smith said she’s the type of person who attends a conference and befriends the lone individual in the room who isn’t talking to anybody.
“This can be a learned behavior,” Smith said. “I grew up in a sheltered immigrant family where we were told not to talk to strangers.”
Smith points out the Chamber of Connection is still new. It doesn’t have a membership list, yet, and people are trying to figure out what it is.
“For me, I’m trying to use the whole vibe to stay connected and be better connected,” Smith said. “Especially in the work force, you have to be connected.”
As the Chamber of Connection attempts to get off the ground, Cox notes that access to connection can come in a variety of ways. She points to a group called social strollers, which consists of a group of more than 60 men who do meet-ups in Mission Bay while pushing baby strollers.
She said she’s been reaching out to numerous clubs and communities in San Diego to offer support in maintaining groups and activities that offer human connection.
“There’s a wide spectrum of connection,” Cox said. “We’re looking for ways to pull people together, not tear them apart.”
It’s hard to argue against the goal. SDSun
