No One Is Meant To Do Life Alone.

In 2022, I moved to a small town just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, and experienced one of the most difficult transitions of my life. As a retired Marine, I had spent most of my adult life surrounded by the structure, purpose, and community that military life provides. For the first time, I found myself in a new city where I knew almost no one. Overnight, the support system I had relied on for years was gone. Loneliness became overwhelming. I found myself slipping into depression and questioning whether I still had a place where I belonged.

Then I realized something that would change my life.

The thing I needed most wasn't another job or another accomplishment.

It was community.

So instead of waiting to find my people, I decided to create the kind of community I was searching for. I started a simple Facebook group called, "Let's Get Social Raleigh" and invited a handful of strangers to join me for a hike. I had no idea that one decision would become something so much bigger. Those first meetups turned into connections and those connections turned into community.

People started inviting their friends, who invited their friends, and before long, what began as a small Facebook group had grown into a thriving culture of connection centered on joy, play, nature, and authentic human connection. In searching for my own community, I ended up helping thousands of others find theirs.

Just three and a half years later, that grassroots effort evolved into the Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing social well-being through play, nature, and meaningful human connection.

Something Unexpected Happened

As our community grew, people began traveling from across North Carolina and beyond to join us. It became clear that what we were building wasn't unique to Raleigh. It was responding to a need being felt across the country. Adults everywhere were searching for the same thing: A place to experience pure joy, freedom, and authentic connections... and most importantly a place to simply be human.

Then, in 2023, the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources reached out after following our work in the community. They invited us to bring our vision to Fletcher Park. That invitation became the first Adult Recess Festival. Since then, more than 18,000 people have attended our festival.

Today, the Adult Recess Festival is widely believed to be the nation's first large-scale social wellness festival centered on adult play, joy, and communal restoration as legitimate forms of preventative care. Every spring, public parks become vibrant playgrounds where adults reconnect with something many haven't experienced in years, the ability to:

Own our joy
Reclaim our wholeness
Return to community

People now travel from across the United States, and internationally from France, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, and The Bahamas, to experience what has become far more than a festival. It's a reminder that joy isn't childish. It's necessary.

More Than a Wellness Festival

As children, many of us knew how to play without worrying about productivity. We laughed freely, imagined boldly, built friendships effortlessly, and found joy in simply being present. Somewhere along the way, adulthood convinced us that play was childish, rest had to be earned, and joy was something to fit in after everything else was done.

We believe the opposite. Play is not the opposite of productivity. Play is the pathway back to ourselves.

When adults reconnect with their inner child, they reconnect with curiosity, creativity, wonder, resilience, and the parts of themselves that existed long before stress, burnout, trauma, and responsibility took center stage.

Adult Recess creates the space to rediscover those parts, not by escaping reality, but by remembering what makes us fully human.

That's why our culture is guided by three simple invitations.

Own Your Joy.

Joy is not selfish. It's restorative and it is your birthright! Owning your joy means giving yourself permission to laugh, move, dance, play, and experience delight without guilt. It is the radical act of believing that your well-being matters.

Reclaim Your Wholeness.

Many adults have become experts at surviving while forgetting how to truly live. Wholeness means recognizing that wellness is more than physical health. It includes emotional well-being, meaningful relationships, rest, purpose, and belonging. Reclaiming your wholeness means embracing every part of yourself, not just the productive parts, but the playful, creative, curious, and joyful parts as well.

Return to Community.

We were never meant to navigate life alone. Healing happens in relationships. Resilience grows through connection. Community reminds us that someone knows our name, notices when we're missing, celebrates our victories, and helps carry our burdens. Returning to community means remembering an ancient truth that we heal together.

This philosophy is deeply rooted in the African principle of Ubuntu, "I am because we are." We believe individual well-being cannot be separated from collective well-being. Health is not only about what happens inside our bodies; it's also shaped by the relationships we build, the communities we belong to, and the spaces where we feel safe enough to be our authentic selves.

From Community Building to Public Health - Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation (LGSR)

As our community expanded, we recognized that we were doing more than bringing people together, we were addressing one of the most significant public health challenges of our time: loneliness and social isolation.

Across our events, including Hike & Chill, Adult Recess, Let's Talk About It, Book Club, conversation games, game nights, and community mixers, we consistently observed the same outcomes. Participants formed meaningful friendships, expanded their support networks, developed accountability partners, launched business collaborations, supported local, small businesses, found travel companions, and built lasting communities beyond our events.

These outcomes reinforced what a growing body of research has shown: strong social connections are fundamental to physical health, mental well-being, and community resilience.

As national conversations increasingly focused on loneliness, belonging, prevention, and health equity, we recognized that our work represented more than community engagement. It was a scalable model for advancing social well-being through intentional human connection.

This realization led to the creation of the Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation.

Our mission is to advance social well-being by designing and expanding accessible, evidence-informed programs that reduce loneliness, strengthen belonging, and create healthier, more connected communities through play, nature, and meaningful human connection.

Our Impact Today

Since 2022, more than 50,000 people have participated in our programs and experiences designed to strengthen social well-being, reduce loneliness, and foster meaningful human connection.

Our signature initiatives including Adult Recess Festival, Hike & Chill, Let's Talk About It, Book Club, Human Scavenger Hunts, Mix & Mingles, Game Nights, and other community-based experiences, create intentional opportunities for adults to build relationships, strengthen support networks, and develop a greater sense of belonging.

Beyond improving individual well-being, our work contributes to community and economic vitality.

To date, LGSR has recycled more than $650,000 into local businesses by intentionally hosting recurring programs and events at locally owned restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, parks, and community venues.

We strategically schedule many of these events on traditionally slower business days, creating new revenue opportunities for small businesses while increasing customer traffic and visibility. This approach supports local entrepreneurs, strengthens neighborhood economies, and helps sustain the businesses that serve as gathering spaces for our communities.

Our work demonstrates that investing in social connection creates measurable benefits beyond individual health. It strengthens communities, supports local economies, promotes equitable access to wellness, and builds the relationships that help people and neighborhoods thrive.

Why We Exist

Loneliness and social isolation have emerged as significant public health challenges, contributing to poorer mental, physical, and community health outcomes.

The Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation was established to address these challenges by advancing social well-being through intentional opportunities for human connection. Through culturally relevant experiences rooted in play, nature, and community, we help adults build meaningful relationships, strengthen belonging, reduce isolation, and improve overall well-being.

We believe social connection is not simply a quality-of-life benefit, it is an essential component of preventive health, resilient communities, and long-term well-being.

National Recognition

Our community-based approach to advancing social well-being reflects a growing national conversation about the role of connection in health.

On July 3, 2026, during the Global Black Economic Forum at the ESSENCE Festival of Culture, Dr. Melicia Whitt-Glover, President and CEO of the Council on Black Health, highlighted Let's Get Social Raleigh as an example of community-based social wellness in action, stating:

Let's Get Social Raleigh has done phenomenal work connecting adults with other adults so that we're not isolated and alone. That by itself lowers stress, lowers cortisol, gives you a healthier outlook, and has gotten me out of my house.

How Your Gift Creates Impact

Your support helps us:

Keep community programs affordable and accessible.
Offer free social wellness and mental well-being initiatives.
Expand programming into more North Carolina communities.
Support local small businesses and community partners.
Build spaces where adults experience joy, belonging, and authentic human connection.

Your Impact

$15 – Sponsors someone to attend a social wellness experience.
$25 – Provides games, conversation cards, and activity supplies that help strangers become friends.
$50 – Equips and supports our volunteers through training, event T-shirts, and the tools they need to create safe, welcoming experiences.
$100 – Helps fund community programming, permits, equipment, and operational expenses that make our events possible.
$250 – Sustains a month of social wellness initiatives, including Hike & Chill, Let's Talk About It, Book Club, and community meetups.
$500+ – Expands our culture of connection into more communities by supporting new programs, partnerships, and outreach.

Together We Can Build a More Connected World

The Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation is building a future where meaningful human connection is recognized as essential infrastructure for healthy communities.

With your support, we will expand social wellness programming, invest in community partnerships, strengthen local economies, and create more opportunities for adults to build lasting relationships and experience belonging.

Together, we can ensure that more people have access to the connection, community, and support they need to thrive.

Because no one is meant to do life alone.

Support the Let's Get Social Raleigh Foundation

Reducing loneliness & connecting communities through play, nature, conversations, and human connections.