Social Connections

Social connections and a sense of belonging are essential to our wellbeing.

Findings from the NS Quality of Life Survey reinforce what existing research has found: Social connectedness is critical to our wellbeing.

We support and create opportunities for folks to strengthen their social connections and sense of belonging because it’s a powerful way to improve personal and community wellbeing.

From strengthening climate resilience to success at work to improving our physical, emotional, and mental health, strong social connections are key.

Social connections projects are a thread in our intersecting work that includes the NS Quality of Life Initiative and our Sustainable Development Goals Program.

Connect with Us

Watch this 3-minute video we created about Do a ___ thing for a conference this summer that focuses on the classroom version.

Do a ___ thing

A collection of ideas to make connections in community.

Do a kind thing.
Do a hard thing.
Do a small thing.

Whether we’re getting back to old routines or building new ones, our relationships - with loved ones, friends, colleagues, and in our local community - are important.

Classrooms and workplaces have seen a lot of change. So we put a little something together for each of them called:
Do a ____ thing.

This project is currently on pause.

Weave part of your community’s fabric.

Do you teach grades P-6? Then, this one’s for you.
Sign up your class to bring your students
closer to the people around them and more
connected to the places they’re in - one thing at a time.
The things include ideas like, “Thank someone,”
“Share!,” and “Ask someone new to play at recess.”
Materials we’ll send you:
- Printouts of activities
- Wall poster for your classroom
- Do a ____ thing pencils and stickers
- Toolkit to support how you can roll this out
Have you welcomed new staff? Are people working from home and from the office? Then Do a ___ thing is for you.
Sign up and take your team-building offline
by creating connections throughout communities.
We’ve got a list of ideas, like, “Volunteer,”
“Lend a hand,” and “Say hi to a neighbour.”
Materials we’ll send you:
- Poster for the office
- Do a ____ thing mugs
- Toolkit to support how you can roll this out
We are committed to including every Nova Scotian as their whole self; across gender, race, age, ability, sexual orientation, religion, cultures, communities, identities, and perspectives.
We recognize the paradigms of prejudice, racism, colonialism, ableism, and oppression built into our society. We actively look to address ongoing harm and inequities through (un)learning and action that dismantles those paradigms and the structures that uphold and reinforce them.

Who’s done a thing?

Email us your photos or tag us on social media!

Send a note to someone in your community.

In December 2020, we invited you to join us in writing or drawing a note to someone in your community - a person you know or haven't met yet.

The pandemic prevented us from being together as much as we'd like, yet we know how good social connections are for our wellbeing.

Here’s what we said then and still believe now: Just as we can’t know what the months ahead will look like, we never know what anyone is facing in their lives at the moment our paths cross. And we can never know the impacts that small gestures can have on any given day.

From Me to You continues to be an opportunity to uplift someone else, and to do it all together.

Write

Write or draw a notecard and leave it somewhere to be found, like a doorstep, coffee shop, or bus. Ask us to send you some note cards, print your own in French, Mi’kmaq and English, or use what you have on hand. Make it a group effort!

Although we aren’t actively promoting From Me to You, you can always share the opportunity with your friends, family, and followers on social media through your own photos, or ours. If you want some ideas, we can share some phrases and graphics.

Partner

We partnered with many organizations below to make From Me to You a reality and a part of other organizations’ and businesses’ activities. It inspired many more ripple effects, and we remain open to hearing about any partnership ideas you have.

This initiative had many local sources of inspiration – Northwood’s annual holiday card campaign, Letters Against Loneliness started by a group of friends including Alexis Blake and Kailey Zwaan, the Xaverian Pen Pal project started by StFX student Alyssa Spridgeon in Antigonish, and the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia’s Message of Kindness Initiative - to name a few.