{"id":115155,"date":"2026-02-16T11:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/115155\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:40:08","slug":"pittsburgh-connection-expo-wants-to-help-you-make-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/115155\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh \u201cConnection Expo\u201d wants to help you make friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re looking for others interested in yoga, knitting or dogs, wanting to make new friends, or just spent less time looking at screens, the \u201cConnection Expo<\/a>\u201d this Saturday is for you.<\/p>\n

In an online age of increasing isolation, the second annual expo is being put on by Pittsburgh Social Health<\/a>, a group that works to \u201cbring back the art of hanging out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expo will offer clubs, organizations, and volunteer opportunities for people looking to connect, said \u200aHaley Ingersoll\u200a, founder of Pittsburgh Social Health. Groups represented range from wellness- and exercise-focused organizations, to identity groups, arts and crafts organizations, community-service organizations, and more.<\/p>\n

\u200aThe vision for the event stems from college campus fairs that feature fraternities, professional clubs and other groups for new students to join.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, the idea being that as adults, we could also benefit from an opportunity like that to walk through a space, talk to some of these organization leaders, maybe experience a demo of what it’s like to do shadow boxing, for instance, or look for volunteer opportunities,\u201d Ingersoll said.<\/p>\n

The aim is to also make it a little bit less intimidating to approach or try an organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining a club is one of the quickest ways to make friends and connect to that sort of sense of purpose and belonging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ingersoll, who moved to Pittsburgh in 2020, initially connected with other transplants to the city who were looking for community, and the group evolved to Pittsburgh Social Health. The group also hosts other in-person meet-ups.<\/p>\n

\"Participants<\/p>\n

Courtesy Pittsburgh Social Health <\/p>\n

Participants in the 2025 Pittsburgh Social Health Connection Expo.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the loss of in-person contact during the COVID-19 pandemic and a recent U.S. Surgeon General\u2019s report, there is increasing attention to issues of loneliness and isolation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think we\u2019re seeing a recognition that this really is important,\u201d Ingersoll said.<\/p>\n

A 2023 advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General<\/a> highlighted the problem and its harms to both individual health and society at large.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial connection is a fundamental human need, as essential to survival as food, water, and shelter,\u201d according to the advisory.<\/p>\n

Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, and several other major medical issues, the report noted \u2013 similar to the health impacts of smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Social Health Connection Expo<\/a> is scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at Velum Fermentation, 2120 Jane St., Pittsburgh, 15203. It is free to attend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re looking for others interested in yoga, knitting or dogs, wanting to make new friends, or just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-115155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}