We got in the same room, but did we connect?

By KERA CHURCH SCOTT
Guest Columnist

Work and leisure have taken my husband and me all over the country.

Different communities, different people, different ways of doing things. But it was Indiana’s Hoosier hospitality that charmed us right out of the South. Since July 2026, we’ve had the pleasure of calling Noblesville home.

Boots on the ground and armed with curiosity, I began learning about my community. Through research and volunteering, I found the Be The People Rally for Indy at Indianapolis Metropolitan High School on Oct. 16.

I went alone, knowing no one, intentionally.

I’ve spent years welcoming strangers and making introductions. This time, I wanted to get involved without being responsible for making the connections.

I enjoyed myself. I played basketball with former Indianapolis Colts player Joe Reitz and saw organizations doing meaningful work. But between the basketball court, T-shirt station, and unused conversation tables, I wondered:

Are we connecting people, or are we just gathering them?

There’s a difference.

The rally offered games, customizable T-shirts, themed drinks, and opportunities to learn about organizations serving Indianapolis.

Goodwill’s displays highlighted thousands of graduations, job placements, and people served.

But the T-shirt station was the only place I noticed a line.

Three questions

A table labeled “Meet a Fellow Impact Leader” offered a 30-second timer and three prompts:

1. What’s Indy’s most underrated superpower?
2. Where could Indy use a stronger team?
3. What could you solve together that you couldn’t alone?

Great questions, close to those guiding my research: What do we have? What’s missing? What can we do about it?

While I was there, I never saw anyone use the tables or run a timer.

Was the most valuable activity in the room the one nobody was participating in?

Two strangers discovering a shared goal. Two organizations finding a reason to collaborate. Someone leaving knowing where they could make a difference.

Wasn’t that the opportunity?

Right in front of us

At the Be The People welcome table, I spoke with two women affiliated with the organization. We discovered shared experience in elections. I expressed interest in staying connected, and one wrote down my email address.

Afterward, something occurred to me. I’d asked about their work, organization, and story. I couldn’t recall being asked much about mine.

How many opportunities do we miss explaining what we do while forgetting to ask about the person standing before us?

What happens afterward?

Points scored during basketball and cornhole were matched with donations for the school – a creative combination of participation and giving. But how do we measure community connection?

Attendance and money raised matter. So do the organizations represented. But what about relationships formed, opportunities discovered, and people leaving knowing how to get involved?

What happens a month later? I don’t know what partnerships developed outside my view or what follow-up organizers planned.

Two miles down the road

Afterward, I encountered a man holding a sign who appeared to be experiencing homelessness. My window was down. We exchanged greetings, and he told me, in a brief, kind exchange, that one of my tires was almost flat.

I thought about the impact displays.

Those numbers matter. But so did the man standing two miles away.

It reminded me of the distance between resources and people who might benefit from them. Between having a resource and knowing it exists.

Between wanting to help and knowing where to begin. Between needing support and knowing whom to ask.

Sometimes the missing piece isn’t another program.

It’s the connection.

An opportunity

I don’t consider the rally a failure. I see a worthwhile purpose and room to improve.

I left with a shirt, a bag, stickers, and a few acquaintances – mostly from conversations I initiated.

Weeks earlier, I’d participated as a vendor at YART in Muncie, handing out stickers.

I got free stickers this time. But less engagement.

If someone arrives genuinely interested in getting involved, what happens next? Who learns their story? Who helps them find their place?

Who makes sure the connection survives after the tables are folded?

There’s already a foundation here, built by people investing time, resources, and heart. The opportunity is to build on it: try different approaches, connect existing efforts, and support those who come tomorrow.

I’m not suggesting the people doing this work have gotten it wrong.

I’m asking whether we can give the conversations as much attention as the activities. Sometimes the most valuable connection is the person you didn’t know was coming, carrying a story you haven’t yet thought to ask about.

I chose Indiana because I believe in what people can accomplish together. I still do.

Gathering people is an accomplishment. Connecting them is the work.

What event?

October 19, 2026 … three days later.

I checked social media, local news, and my emails.

Still no post-event coverage or organizer recap I could find. No follow-up in my inbox, either – not even the survey I’d agreed to receive.

Now I’m glad I took my own photos. Otherwise, I might have a hard time proving the event actually happened.

How do you build lasting connections when even the event itself seems to disappear?

Kera Church Scott is an independent community researcher based in Noblesville. Her work explores the people, places, resources, and overlooked connections that shape local communities.