Patrick Wood: Hear directly from Lakes Region mental health experts

To The Daily Sun,

In January 2024, the New Hampshire Endowment for Health awarded a grant to the Laconia Human Relations Committee “to build greater resident connections and trust building across difference by organizing intentional social interaction type events.” 

The basis for the Endowment’s interest in this area has been the steady decline in social interactions first described in Robert Putnam’s book written in 2000, "Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital." '

More recently, the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy and the National Conference on Citizenship published the "2020 New Hampshire Civic Health Index." The index contained several important ideas to reverse the trends including:

“Reflection No. 4: There has been an erosion of trust, the basic ingredient of social capital, over the past two decades. This includes trust in key social institutions as well as trust in neighbors. Many people, especially those with lower incomes and less education, feel unwelcome at public meetings. One response to this erosion of trust is to create opportunities for people to spend time together, hear each other’s views, and participate in shared actions to address community challenges."

In February 2024, the Laconia Human Relations Committee convened a listen and learn meeting with representatives from many of Laconia’s social services agencies to begin to understand some of the issues facing Laconia and to hear how the Laconia Human Relations Committee might help build greater community understanding of and support for the missions of those agencies. It was agreed that one way to do this would be to present opportunities for the community to hear directly from these agencies through a series of programs over the next two years.

The Laconia Human Relations Committee is beginning this process by supporting the Open House and Art Walk at the Lakes Region Mental Health Center, Thursday, May 23, 6 to 8 p.m.

Patrick Wood

Laconia