Welcome to The Newsfeed.

Researchers say Americans are feeling more lonely and disconnected.

A survey last year by the American Psychological Association found that about six out of ten adults reported those feelings.

In that report, half of the adults said they felt isolated, and the other 50% said they felt left out or lack companionship often, or some of the time.

To understand how that is manifesting in the Seattle metro area, we went inside a community building event to see how people navigate through loneliness.

I'm joining here at the Joiner Jamboree as part of White Center Solidarity.

Here to meet our neighbors, learn a bit more about the community that surrounds us, and very excited to see everyone joining in this big community that we're building.

Where I grew up, it's a little bit hard or kind of frowned upon, to go up, knock on someone's door, and say, "Hi, I'm your neighbor."

It feels like you're like a door door-to-door salesman or something.

But when I came here, that's one of the first things that I did, actually, I wanted to break this mold and go and talk to my neighbors.

Funnily enough, it kind of saved my life.

One time, I had an accident at home, and knowing my neighbor saved me because my neighbor was the one that actually called 911 so they could come in and help me, which was interesting.

If I hadn't done that, it wouldn't have happened.

Which is not to say that, "Hey, go talk to your neighbors in case you're almost dying," but it's like the sense of community, the sense of trust.

I am a volunteer at the food bank.

We're here to promote this great service for the community, not just to go grab some food and resources.

I've been doing it for for a little bit with my son.

He is ten years old, and we've found that, like, it's a really great way to show him how can we support our community and connect with them.

I'm with West Seattle Indivisible, which is an organization that brings neighbors together to build community, to activate civic engagement, and to defend democracy.

Now more than ever, it's critical that we come together.

We get to know our neighbors.

We get out there in the world.

We pay attention to what's going on, to help each other and support each other.

So that our neighborhoods can thrive.

I mean, it might sound a little corny, but I think, you know, going out to events like art walks, like, you know, exhibits and things.

As an artist myself, going there and seeing other people interested and engaging with the work makes me feel less alone and less like there's no one else out there who thinks the same way that I do.

Loneliness?

It feels like seclusion.

Like you don't have anyone in your corner.

You don't have support.

It's not a good feeling.

So, that's one of the reasons where we want to kind of interact with different people, and maybe who are lonely or just don't have the kind of community they're looking for.

- We found especially coming out of the pandemic, some people were really isolated and feeling lonely.

And I think that spreads across all ages.

We found that that the garden setting was a great way for people to come in from all over the area, at all different ages, to get to know each other, work on their social skills, honestly, and also get the health benefits of organic fresh food and gardening.

Well, I don't have a partner in life, so there are times when that absence, affects me.

And the way around it is to find community, to seek community.

I guess it really all for me starts with core values.

It started with just a desire to put something positive back into the world, now that my kids are grown, that I'm, you know, in the latter stages of life, and I wanted to do so in the most direct way possible.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thanks for watching.

To see this week's stories on loneliness, visit CascadePBS.org/TheNewsfeed.