Sidewalk Talk | Jackie Green-August
According to the US Surgeon General’s recent report, Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, nearly half of Americans have reported experiencing loneliness. The prolonged feelings of loneliness and isolation harm both individual and societal health. The report found that “Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death.”
You don’t have to look far to see that the consequences of a lack of social connection are felt in our schools, workplaces, and social organizations. In a time when social isolation is at an all-time high, the need for connection is more significant than ever before.
Jackie August Green is on a mission to combat loneliness and connect people. Jackie believes in facilitating relationships to create community connections. She started her non-profit, PEACE: People Empowered by and Committed to Education, in the fall of 2022 to support people in her community through education and empowerment. PEACE is dedicated to education beyond the classroom through the enlightenment of oneself. Jackie believes “if people understand their value and ultimate worth, then they can live their most authentic life.”
Jackie lives in Nottaway County, Virginia, a small community of only 15,594 (2021) in Southern Virginia. For the past 30 years, she has worked in education as a teacher, a student education specialist, and a principal. Today, in addition to working in local schools, Jackie works in healthcare and community health education. Through the lens of education, she has seen firsthand the effects of loneliness in her small rural community. When she found out about the program Sidewalk Talk, she thought it would be an excellent opportunity for people in Nottaway to connect with people they otherwise wouldn’t, to learn about others, and to build relationships based on mutual respect.
Sidewalk Talk
Sidewalk Talk is a listening project that originated in 2014 as a project dedicated to creating communities of listeners across the US. Sidewalk Talk trains participants to listen as equals, become better listeners, and how to intervene in the case of a crisis. In the face of increased loneliness, violence, and inequality, the founders of Sidewalk Talk “decided to create spaces for connection and belonging - on the sidewalks.” Today there are over 21 US-based Sidewalk Talk chapters and chapters in Canada, Kuala Lumpur, New Zealand, and Australia. Local chapters regularly connect in the same public space, inviting anyone to grab a chair and listen.
Jackie heard about the Sidewalk Talk program, and it really resonated with her. She decided to be trained as a Sidewalk Talk listener and to start her own chapter in Nottaway County.
“I love that this is a conversation that is random in the community and has people who are able to talk about their issues and realize that we are more alike than we are different. This really resonated with me. I want people here in Nottaway to have a conversation with people they may have never met or don't know well in a different kind of setting, a neutral place where we can both give our perspectives on an issue.”
Jackie has always believed in facilitating relationships and conversations and has done so professionally as an education specialist. Jackie helped 144 schools create student councils and student voice organizations in Texas.
Can you describe your project and what you hope to achieve from it?
Jackie hopes people will see her flyers and be inquisitive. She plans to spread the word about Sidewalk Talk events through posters and word of mouth. Jackie hopes people will come and explore what it is like to have a conversation with someone they have never met, someone who thinks differently than them.
“You just sit down and start talking, there are prompts, but it is all about respect and acknowledgment of the other person. It is not about defending your belief, but to come with an open mind.”
Jackie is using her Let’s Choose Love Grant to help market the event, purchase some training materials, and purchase refreshments for listeners. The Nottaway County Sidewalk Talk chapter will meet monthly for about two hours as a pop-up in various areas of the county. The event is always free, and community members are invited to come and experience Sidewalk Talk, even if they only sit for 10 minutes. Jackie’s goal is to have 20-25 people attend each pop-up session. The first Nottaway County Sidewalk Talk meeting took place on June 28th.
Jackie hopes to utilize Sidewalk Talk with vulnerable populations by hosting listening sessions at a local food distribution center. The center serves over 250 families that may not have access to community services and connections. With this target demographic, Jacking hopes “to get people to realize that they have voices; this is an opportunity for people to learn how to find their voices.”
The First PEACE Let’s Choose Love Event
Jackie hosted her first “Let’s Choose Love Event” on June 28th, in partnership with a local nonprofit hosting a produce market pop-up sponsored by a healthcare provider. The plan was to give out food and provide a safe and welcoming listening space for all who came to the produce market.
However, after an hour of waiting on a hot summer’s day, no one came to the event. Being innovative and committed to spreading love, Jackie and her team decided to take their event on the road. They drove around the community, distributed over 30 bags of fresh food, and checked in on neighbors - reminding them that people in the community care about them.
“We received a lot of blessings and thank yous. The best part was hugging people and laughing with joy. Someone even said, ‘You thought about me. I needed this!’”
At the end of the day, Jackie said she learned an important lesson, “The act of choosing love does not always happen during planned events. Choosing love takes place every day during the connections we make with people, old and new friends alike.”
“We are called to build a movement to mend the social fabric of our nation. It will take all of us working together to destigmatize loneliness and change our cultural and policy response to it. It will require reimagining the structures, policies, and programs that shape a community to best support the development of healthy relationships. Each of us can start now, in our own lives, by strengthening our connections and relationships.” The US Surgeon General
To learn more about Sidewalk Talk or to start a chapter, check out their website.
Sidewalk Talk also produces a wonderful podcast that you can listen to here.
