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Our speaker last week was Lori Gosselin, who spoke to us about community building. When we think of community, we usually think of groups with geographical boundaries or shared interests, but there may be more to a shared community. Community is home, a place where you feel at home and are important to the people who are there. Your perception of community happens when you are a child. But community is evolving. The community of the past was tough – all about survival. Today it is also about survival, but in a different way. People are feeling alone and that nobody knows them – there is a loneliness epidemic. We need to build more community – everywhere, including at work. Community in the workplace is where people want to stay, are happy and mental health is supported. Our struggles today are more emotional than physical. There are seven characteristics to community – commitment, inclusivity (all types of diversity), authenticity (can be exactly who you are), support, shared leadership (no power struggle), collaboration, and camaraderie. There are three ways communities grow – organically (regular meetings), spontaneously (through crisis), and intentionally. Groups become communities through four stages – pseudo-community, chaos (stage of crisis, conflict and confrontation), emptiness (empty out judgments, need to be in control, etc.), and community. Lori explained how community building is different than team building. Community building is path to peace – makes everyone “us.” It is not trying to make everyone the same. Lori described how to start the community building process at work and within a family. We need to carve out time to do it and inspire others to join!