The Activity is Walking. The Goal is Connection.

Coffee cups warmed cold hands as a small group gathered outside the Mitchell Park Domes on a bright Saturday morning. The beehive-shaped domes towered over the park, their glass panels reflecting the sunlight while cold wind swept across the sidewalks below.

Nearby, women stood bundled in coats, scarves and hats, moving to keep warm as they formed loose clusters. Most were strangers, standing in hesitant silence at first, the kind that comes with unfamiliar faces and new surroundings. Slowly, conversation came about in small bursts of laughter and introductions, and the distance between them started to shrink.

For Kathleen Stevens, who moved to Milwaukee last summer, the nervousness of showing up alone felt familiar.

“You always get that little anxiety when going to new places,” Stevens said. “You just gotta remind yourself your body is trying to protect you.”

For people moving to a new city, making friends can feel isolating and uncomfortable. Groups like Girls Who Walk Milwaukee, founded by Sam Booth, are creating spaces for women to meet and connect. As loneliness continues to rise across the United States, especially among young adults navigating unfamiliar places and major life transitions, events like these are becoming even more important.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 3 U.S. adults report feeling lonely, while 1 in 4 adults say they lack social and emotional support. The CDC also found that loneliness and social isolation can increase the risk of anxiety, depression, heart disease, and premature death.

A 2025 report from the World Health Organization found that 1 in 6 people globally experiences loneliness, with the highest rates reported among teenagers and young adults. The report connected loneliness and isolation to more than 871,000 deaths annually worldwide.

Stevens said moving to Milwaukee felt like starting over socially, despite having family nearby. Originally living with her parents, Stevens moved after her sister encouraged one of their siblings to relocate with her.

“My sister helped me find a job before I moved here officially,” Stevens said. “But moving here and trying to figure out the layout, it’s like starting from scratch.”

Now working as an assistant food and beverage manager, Stevens said much of her routine revolves around work and home, leaving few opportunities to naturally meet people.

“Back home, I kind of knew what was where and where I could go to possibly meet new people and make friends,” Stevens said. “Here, I’m just like, ‘I don’t know anything.’”

Booth started Girls Who Walk Milwaukee three years ago after seeing how difficult it could be for adults to build friendships outside of school or work. She expected only a handful of people to attend the first event.

“I shared it with some friends, and I thought maybe a couple other people would come,” Booth said. “The first walk had maybe 40 people, so I was completely blown away.”

Since then, the group has grown mostly through word of mouth and social media. Booth said the walks attract women from different backgrounds and age groups, many attending alone for the first time.

“What makes a walk feel really special is when the walk ends and people are all talking and exchanging phone numbers and making plans,” Booth said. “To me, that’s kind of like, okay, it did its thing. People connected.”

Booth said many adults struggle to meet new people because they fear awkwardness or rejection, especially after college, when structured social spaces become less common.

“That’s the whole point of it,” Booth said. “Let’s just take that barrier out right away and address it, because it’s not weird. Everyone feels that.”

The group has also become unexpectedly intergenerational. Booth said women in their early 20s walk alongside retirees, mothers, and even grandparents.

“My grandma, who’s turning 90, came to a walk the other week,” Booth said. “We’ve just had a really diverse age range, and I think that’s super special.”

For Stevens, the event offered reassurance that loneliness is not something she experiences alone. While she said friendships may not form instantly, simply being around people searching for connection made Milwaukee feel slightly smaller.

“Everybody wants to feel like they belong,” Stevens said. “Finding a community that you feel like you fit in will always matter more than anything.”

As the group slowly dispersed from the Domes, conversations continued in the parking lot as women exchanged social media handles and phone numbers before going home. What began as a gathering of strangers ended with the possibility that some of them might not feel quite so alone anymore.