This entry in our Support Small Businesses section is unusual, in that it offers no singular brick-and-mortar location for the things it has to offer. But what it has to offer—a creative response to urban isolation—compels us to sing its praises. As such, please see the below Q&A. But first, a bit of background info, culled from the ABOUT section of Chelsea Love Coalition’s webite:

ABOUT CHELSEA LOVE COLLECTIVE | In one of the most vibrant cities in the world, too many New Yorkers experience the city from the sidelines…Loneliness and isolation have quietly become an epidemic, even in neighborhoods filled with energy, culture, and opportunity. Chelsea Love Collective was created to change that. Our mission is to make it easier for neighbors to meet, build friendships, and participate in the life of their neighborhood. Through social neighborhood gatherings, park stewardship, and partnerships with local businesses, Chelsea Love Collective creates welcoming opportunities for residents to connect with one another and experience the best of Chelsea together.

Scott Stiffler, for Chelsea Community News (CCNews): Who are the founders of Chelsea Love Collective?

Heather Kuh, for Chelsea Love Collective (Heather): Myself (Heather Kuh). Sandy Chin, and Julie Chen.

CCNews: “…tackling loneliness and bringing Chelsea residents together!” is your mission. What’s the why and how, in addressing loneliness and helping forge connections?

Heather: In such a vibrant neighborhood, we’ve found that many residents are feeling isolated and disconnected from our community. Whether it’s a younger adult who has moved here for a job and has no village yet or a senior whose network has eroded over the years between the COVID exodus and other life changes. There are a lot of people experiencing loneliness. The how is a more difficult answer. We feel that through neighborhood interest groups, “do good together” opportunities and forging relationships with the local small business community, we can bring people together in meaningful ways and have them feeling as though it’s OK to show up alone and there will be people there happy to meet them.  Ultimately, the goal is to help neighbors forge friendships.

CCNews: How prevalent do you think loneliness or lack of connection is, generally? Is there anything that distinguishes it, as it occurs in NYC/Chelsea?

Heather: There’s a well-documented loneliness epidemic in our country and in NYC, more than half of New Yorkers report feeling lonely at least some of the time.  We want to chip away at it from a neighborhood level and hope to inspire other neighborhoods to find a way to do the same. We don’t have any evidence to say the problem is greater here than in other neighborhoods, but if there is an opportunity to reduce what levels we do have and help neighbors make meaningful connections, the effort is worth it.

CCNews: Talk about the activities and events you are currently working on. Are there other such things in mind for the future?

Heather: We’ve been soft-launching the non-profit over the summer by engaging local businesses and organizations. We’re tapping into ways we can work with them to create unique opportunities to bring people together and at the same time, bring exposure to those businesses. We recently held an event at the Gateway Program Community Engagement Center, as well as a Photo Walk activity with B&H Photo to kick off our Photography Club. Social Clubs are one of our pillars and we’re working on building those out now. We’ve done a meditation event and a puzzle building event through clubs and will be scheduling more of those, as well as others. Our goal is to find volunteers who want to share an interest or passion by volunteering to start or help run a Chelsea Love Collective club. Beyond that, we’re working on putting together a “do good together” activity. That will consist of some sort of drive where everyone can come together to support the needs of those in the community who could use a boost.

CCNews: Your launch was made possible, in part, by a grant from Friends of Chelsea Green. What’s your connection to the group, and/or the West 20th Street park they take care of?

Heather: Sandy and Heather are also on the Board of Friends of Chelsea Green. We love what we do with the park and wanted to expand on that by creating something that reaches adults all over Chelsea and provides opportunities for the community that go beyond what the park can participate in. We approached the other board members about this and how Chelsea Love Collective can also work with the park. The rest of the Board took a vote on whether or not to support this initiative. We’re so grateful for their contribution. It was meant to help with some administrative costs, as well as a kick off event we are holding at the park on September 22nd – a Community Board Game Night from 6:30-8:30pm.

CCNews: How can people get involved, in terms of participating in events and helping with Collective tasks?

Heather: People can go to chelsealovecollective.org and sign up with interest in volunteering or running a club. They can also go to the various club pages and join the clubs there. They’ll be notified when activities get scheduled. They can also send an email to us at chelsealovecollective@gmail.com

CCNews: What’s your contact info and web/social media presence?

Heather: 

Chelsealovecollective@gmail.com

@chelsealovecollective on IG

 https://www.facebook.com/ChelseaLoveCollective

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