Register Now for the 2026 National Summit to Increase Social Connections

Join Commit to Connect for the National Summit to Increase Social Connections, a two-day virtual event focused on this year’s theme: “Champion Your Health: Social Connection as a Cornerstone of Prevention, Wellness, Healthy Aging, and Independence.” This year’s theme builds on the U.S. Administration for Community Living’s 2026 Celebration of Older Americans Month. Day one of the Summit will focus on social connection and its role in nutrition programs and services to improve the health and well-being of older adults and people with disabilities. Day two will highlight how group community-based exercise and physical activities promote social connection and support health and well-being.   

Visit the event page to view the full agenda. This event will include CART captioning and ASL interpretation. Registration is free but required.

In Case You Missed It

In May, Commit to Connect hosted a webinar focused on the impact of falls prevention programs on social connectedness. During the webinar, the National Council on Aging, Trellis, and MAC, Inc., highlighted how falls prevention programming can be a powerful intervention for maintaining and rebuilding social networks.

Learn How DOROT Is Supporting Intergenerational Connections

Commit to Connect is pleased to highlight another member of the Nationwide Network of Champions in our bi-monthly blog post series featuring Ali Hodin Baier, Chief of Programs at DOROT. This blog highlights how DOROT, a nonprofit social service organization based in New York, brings generations together and delivers engaging and innovative programs to help older adults live independent, healthy lives. Check out the full blog post.

Are you interested in having your organization featured in an upcoming blog post? Register to become part of the Commit to Connect Nationwide Network of Champions!

Access Resources From 2026 Older Americans Month

Older Americans Month is celebrated every May to recognize the contributions of older adults and to promote healthy, independent living. Identified by the U.S. Administration for Community Living (ACL), the theme for the 2026 Older Americans Month was "Champion Your Health." This theme focuses on prevention, wellness, and personal responsibility as cornerstones of healthy aging. Find more resources from ACL to support Older Americans Month all year long here. To learn more about how other organizations engaged with their communities this May, explore your social media platforms using #ChampionYourHealth.

• The U.S. Administration for Community Living launched Phase 1 of its Cultivating Connected Communities Challenge. This competition aims to increase engagement with existing community garden models that foster healthy eating, wellness, and accessibility with focused outreach to older adults and people with disabilities.  

• Social isolation and loneliness are widely recognized as critical issues affecting the health and well-being of older adults and caregivers. This blog post from Engaged: USAging's Resource Center for Engaging Older Adults, explores the status of social connection in the United States and how the Aging Network has become a staple in promoting social engagement.   

• The Foundation for Social Connection (F4SC) recently hosted the webinar, “Advancing Social Connection through Arts, Culture, and Leisure.” This event highlighted how arts, culture, and leisure activities can be leveraged to strengthen social connection within communities and improve both individual and community outcomes. Access the webinar recording as well as the F4SC framework report on this topic. 

• Healthy Places by Design (HPbD) identified key findings and recommendations for communities to create safe, active, and more socially connected spaces for youth and young adults in their recent report, “Building Safe, Active, and Connected Communities for Youth and Young Adults.” Highlights from the report can be found in a webinar hosted by HPbD. Access the webinar recording.

• Event: 2026 Global Loneliness Awareness Week Summit (Foundation for Social Connection, June 17–18, 2026) 
• Event: Annual National Summit to Increase Social Connections (Commit to Connect, June 23–24, 2026 from 1:00–3:30 p.m. ET) 
• Event: Lunch and Learn on the ENGAGE Intervention (Interagency Committee on Disability Research, June 23, 2026 12:00–1:00 p.m. ET) 
• Conference: USAging's Answers on Aging Annual Conference and Tradeshow (USAging, July 18–21, 2026) 
• Conference: 2026 Home & Community-Based Services (HCBS) Conference (ADvancing States, August 23–27, 2026) 
• Conference: Connected Cities 2026 Summit (U.S. Chamber of Connection, October 15–16, 2026)