Are you lonely? Your Community Is. Here’s What That Means.
By Barbara Rozgonyi | April 13, 2026 | Charlotte, NC
National Stress Awareness Month | Loneliness Epidemic | Community Building | Marketing Strategy | Thought Leadership
April is National Stress Awareness Month. And this year, the most stressful thing I heard came not from a headline, but from a former U.S. Surgeon General sitting in a room full of Charlotte’s most engaged community builders. Note: if you only get one takeaway from this post, let it be that marketers/content creators should shift their thinking from attracting an audience to collaborating with a community. Read on to find out just how big the loneliness epidemic is and what you can do about it.
“Loneliness carries the mortality risk of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
Last week, I attended An Evening with Dr. Vivek Murthy & Judy Woodruff at UNC Charlotte’s Dubois Center — a free event organized by Knight Foundation and Charlotte Center City Partners.
I have attended dozens of events at UNC Charlotte’s Center City campus. Last April, I was the featured AI speaker at PRSA Charlotte’s annual conference, delivering “AI + PR: The Future of Visibility” to 200+ communications professionals in that same building.
This event lit up the night.
This wasn’t just a program with a talk. It was a live laboratory for community building and the single most important strategic signal for marketers, CMOs, thought leaders, and anyone who communicates for a living.
How the Evening Created Instant Community Before the Headliners Even Spoke
Janeen Bryant, Executive Director of Community Building Initiative (CBI) , which has fostered connection across differences for 29+ years, opened the evening with a “Stand Up and Sit Down” activation that I will use at one of my upcoming keynote speeches:
- Stand if you like sugar on your grits. A few stood, and no one booed.
- Raise your hand if you’re an introvert. Half the room raised their hands.
- Stand if you believe in the dignity of every person. Everyone stood.
Then she asked us to turn to someone nearby and answer two questions:
“How do you make Charlotte home?”
“What keeps you from connecting?”
Barriers surfaced immediately: transportation challenges, neighborhood segregation, the relentless pace of Charlotte’s growth, and busyness as a default identity.
But something else happened, too.
Strangers shared names. Laughter broke out. In 90 seconds, I met Dana and Kim. By the end of the evening, we were not attendees. We were a community.
That 90-second exercise is one of the more powerful connecting frameworks I’ve witnessed in real time.
What Charlotte’s Public Health Community Is Already Doing
Dr. Kimberly Scott, Mecklenburg County Interim Health Director, shared the infrastructure already in place:
- Community health workers who reflect the communities they serve
- Mobile health units that go where the need is
- Village Heartbeat/Make Moves programs
- Mentorship and wellness groups
- Equity teams embedded across departments
“Public health isn’t just preventing disease,” she said. “It’s protecting connection.”
That sentence is a call to action for HR, marketing, customer experience sales, and you and me.
The Data That Changes Your Marketing Strategy
Dr. Murthy drew from his 2023 HHS Surgeon General Advisory and 2025 Parting Prescription for America to deliver statistics that reframe the entire purpose of marketing:
| Statistic | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in 3 U.S. adults lonely weekly | 30% weekly; 10% daily | APA Poll 2024 |
| Young adults (18-34) | Highest rates; 70% drop in social time pre-COVID | HHS Advisory |
| Health impact | +29% stroke/heart disease risk; +50% dementia risk | HHS Advisory |
| Mortality risk | Equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day | HHS Advisory |
| Global deaths | ~700,000 per year | WHO Commission (via transcript) |
Dr. Murthy’s key reframe: “Loneliness is a signal, like hunger or thirst, that we need connection.”
Your audience/community is sending that signal every time they open your newsletter, listen to your podcast, or attend your event.
The question is: are you answering it?
Charlotte’s Bright Spots: Local Organizations Leading the Way
Before the evening presentation, Dr. Murthy toured Charlotte’s community-led solutions:
| Organization | Focus |
|---|---|
| Pascuales’ Farm | Afro-Latino urban farm, East Side community hub |
| Duke Endowment | West Side youth programs (Time Out Youth), education |
| Pauline’s T Bar | West Charlotte healing and gathering space |
| Bechtler Museum + partners | Arts Rx vs. loneliness — 82% of participants report feeling less lonely; programs include ballet, Three Bone Theatre, clay works, Novant Health |
82% of arts participants reported feeling less lonely. That is not a wellness statistic. That is a community-building case study for every brand that creates experiences.
Judy Woodruff’s Context
Judy moderated the evening with insight drawn from her America at a Crossroads PBS project a nationwide exploration of division and the paths back to each other.
A personal note: my son’s high school homework included watching PBS NewsHour with Judy Woodruff. That is partly why I attended. I knew Warren would appreciate my opportunity to see Judy live. After all, not every mom gets to connect with their kids while watching PBS news. Thank you, Judy, for decades of journalism that builds understanding rather than walls.
The Speaker/Podcasting Connection: Loneliness and the Creator Economy
This loneliness epidemic has a direct impact on content creators, podcasters, and speakers.
How do you create genuine connection at scale?
The answer is not more content. It is more human content.
Your listeners aren’t just downloading episodes. They’re seeking belonging. The speakers and podcasters who understand this, who build community around their content, not just an audience, will win the next decade of the creator economy.
Dr. Murthy’s antidote is elegant and immediately applicable to any content strategy:
- Show up consistently (your publishing schedule is a relationship promise)
- Create tech-free space for real conversation (community calls, live events, comments)
- Name loneliness directly (your audience feels seen when you acknowledge what they are experiencing)
Marketing’s New Direction: From Attention to Belonging
We spent the last decades chasing attention.
Impressions. Reach. Open rates. Click-through rates.
Those metrics measure eyeballs. They don’t measure connection.
Dr. Murthy’s formula for a fulfilled life is elegant: relationships + service + purpose.
The same formula applies to brands, newsletters, keynotes, and campaigns.
Astronaut Christina Koch, whom Dr. Murthy quoted, said something that has stayed with me: “We choose each other.”
Charlotte chose connection last Tuesday night.
Creators and brands who design belonging, not just broadcasts, will be the ones who win.
What This Means for Your Brand Right Now
Three immediate actions for National Stress Awareness Month:
1. Audit your content for connection.
Do your last five pieces of content create belonging or just deliver information? Information gets consumed. Belonging gets shared.
2. Add one community-building moment to your next event.
Janeen Bryant’s 90-second exercise cost nothing and created everything. A “turn and talk” question, a shared show of hands, a moment of recognized humanity, these are free, and they are powerful.
3. Surface one human story this week.
Not a case study. Not a testimonial. A real moment of connection, failure, surprise, or joy. The loneliness epidemic is solved one human story at a time.
FAQ: Loneliness, Stress, and Marketing
Q: Is loneliness really a public health crisis?
A: Yes. The HHS Advisory equates its mortality risk to smoking 15 cigarettes daily. During National Stress Awareness Month, this connection between loneliness and chronic stress is especially important to acknowledge.
Q: How is Charlotte responding?
A: Arts Rx at Bechtler (82% less lonely), urban farms like Pascuales’, and mobile health units from Mecklenburg Public Health.
Q: What is community building’s role in marketing?
A: Future brands prioritize belonging over broadcasting. Trust outperforms reach. Connection outperforms content volume.
Q: Where can I learn more about organizations in Charlotte?
A: Together Project, Parting Prescription, Knight Foundation, Charlotte Center City Partners.
Q: How do I build a community like this for my brand?
A: Book a complimentary discovery call and let’s map your community-building strategy together.
About Barbara Rozgonyi
Barbara Rozgonyi is an AI + PR Visibility Strategist, keynote speaker, and community builder helping CMOs, thought leaders, and speakers create a brighter presence that drives real results.
CEO of CoryWest Media, creator of the AURAS Framework, WIRED Leadership Lab, and Brighter Presence newsletter. Top 100 Keynote Speaker to Watch, Top 100 PR Blogger 2026. Featured AI speaker at PRSA Charlotte’s 2025 annual conference.
Connect on LinkedIn | barbararozgonyi.com | Subscribe to Brighter Presence
AI Disclosure: Researched and refined with AI assistance. All insights, experiences, and opinions are authentically my own.
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