Since 2007, Vital Communities’ Leadership Upper Valley (LUV) program has offered people of all ages and backgrounds a chance to learn and connect so that they can make a difference in their Upper Valley communities. Alumni can also continue to stay engaged by organizing regular events and keeping connected through a Vital Communities email group.
Rachael Thomeer talks to the team at the 2023 24-Hour Play Festival that she spearheaded.
These include 2024 graduate Rachael Thomeer, for whom LUV helped further an interest in creating community events by broadening her network and teaching her about the “history and nuances” of the Upper Valley.
Events Rachel has helped instigate and plan include the June 2024 Free Time Fair, which she organized as a board member of Upper Valley Young Professionals, and the 24-Hour Play Festival.
Thomeer’s interest in community building was inspired by the ideas of Robert Putnam’s 2000 book Bowling Alone and US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy’s 2023 report on the “epidemic of loneliness.” She believes that community events can improve our individual and civic health, especially in a rural area like the Upper Valley.
“Community building feels like a very early link in a chain that ultimately leads to a stronger civil society and democracy as a whole,” she said. “So even if it seems silly and frivolous to say, ‘Let’s plan a picnic, everybody bring a food that starts with p’ —that makes a difference. You get to know your neighbors. You show up for the community. That’s what motivates me.”
Meet more LUV alumni and learn more about the program and the LUV Alum Network at vitalcommunities.org/leadership-upper-valley
Published 10/15/24. Part of the Vital Communities Fall 2024 Newsletter & Annual Report.