Making Connections
We are in the middle of a loneliness epidemic — in 2023, the U.S. surgeon general declared loneliness a public health crisis.
Most of us feel it. We swipe, we scroll, we text and somehow we end up more disconnected than ever. I have felt it, and I knew I wasn’t alone.
I am a longtime Humboldt County resident, relationship and intimacy coach and educator, someone who has always believed that loving relationships are the most healing and life-affirming containers we have. After years of watching people struggle to meet others without apps, screens and swiping, I decided to do something about it.
In February, I launched The Connection Club — Humboldt’s first curated in-person speed dating and social events service.
The concept is simple. We bring together small, carefully curated groups of about 20 people in warm, welcoming local venues — like Phatsy Kline’s Parlor Lounge and Humboldt Bay Provisions — and create space for real conversations to happen. No algorithms. No ghosting. No swiping. Just people, face to face, practicing the art of conversation and listening.
We host events across multiple age brackets, from 28 all the way to 60+, because the desire for connection doesn’t have an expiration date. After each event, participants submit their mutual interests through a simple, no-rejection matching system, and results go out the next day.
Response has been extraordinary. We sold out our first event and almost every gathering since. The feedback has been warm and grateful. One attendee from that first night ended up in an ongoing relationship with a woman he met, and he paid his ticket forward for the next event so others could have the same chance, a gesture that makes my heart full.
What I’d love to see is simple: more loving, healthy relationships taking root right here in our community, especially in the 60+ age bracket. After all, you’re never too old and it’s never too late to create the most connected, loving, intimate relationship of your life. Humboldt is a special place, and the wonderful people who live here deserve to find each other.
For information, visit the-connection-club.com or email hello@the-connection-club.com.
Monica Ballard makes connections in McKinleyville.
