Sunset Social creates new community for young adults

In the early evening of Thursday, April 16, a group of young adults hiked through Destruction Brook Woods, winding around the trails and pausing now and then, whether to look at a creek or step over roots.

They talked about things like their careers, post-college plans and what other activities they’d like the group to do.

And as the sun set overhead, they gathered in a group cheer for Sunset Social Southcoast — a group created by and for young adults.

Back in February, friends Hanna Franklin, Julia Klein and Julia Dickinson were out for dinner and talking about how they were looking forward to getting outside as the weather warmed up, but as the conversation continued, the topic morphed into one about young adulthood and the struggle to maintain a community with peers.

“I love going to the gym and being active, but I often feel a lack of the social component now that I’m living back home in our area,” said Franklin, who recently graduated from the College of Charleston, “And, you know, I’d love to get to meet more people.”

That night, Franklin contacted a college friend who started a group called Sunset Social in Charleston to create a space for young adults to come together and meet different people in a post-graduate setting and be active at the same time.

Franklin said she “really just loved that idea” and asked her friend about branching off of Sunset Social to create Sunset Social Southcoast.

“It was like a back of the napkin idea,” Klein said.

Around two months later, Sunset Social Southcoast met for the first time at the New Bedford Harbor Walk, with the Destruction Brook Woods hike marking the group’s third meet-up.

Elijah DaSilva of Westport returned to Sunset Social for the Destruction Brook Woods hike after attending his first meet-up the week before.

He said that he had been looking for a group to join and for things to do because the majority of his friends either live close to Providence or Boston. This leaves, leaving him without “much of a group in the South Coast to be around as regularly.”

DaSilva, who’s originally from the area, said, “It’s just kind of nice to find a community in this region where sometimes it’s a little harder.”

He noted that in a town like Westport or Dartmouth people can be spread far apart from the people they know.

Franklin said she thinks groups like Sunset Social are “super important” because “the foundation of our lives are built upon community, whether that be a school community or a sports community or music community.”

She noted that growing up kids are surrounded by other people until “suddenly, whether you go to college or not, eventually that kind of drops off.”

DaSilva said, “It’s nice to have a little community in this group again, especially once you leave school it seems it’s a little harder to find that kind of thing.”

Over time, Franklin has had conversations with other young adults who have said that they’re lacking a community feel and want to connect with the community, no matter whether they’ve lived in Dartmouth their whole lives or if they’re new to the area.

She pointed to some conversations that she’s written down, like one with someone who said that they’ve been living at their parents’ house to save money but have been finding it difficult to feel like a “full adult.”

“It’s nice to have a core group to kind of rely on and bounce ideas off of, and just know that you’re not alone, and to know that community does exist in our area, and you just have to create it,” Franklin said.

Franklin said she wants Sunset Social Southcoast to be a “safe space” where young adults can come together to “thrive and be happy socially and get active, get out there and , explore the South Coast.”

Currently the group meets on Thursdays at 6 p.m. to have some consistency but may also do weekend pop up events.

Franklin said that she would also like to see people be comfortable enough in the group’s GroupMe to “fully be themselves.” and feel comfortable to reach out and ask if anyone’s available to get together.

“It’s kind of nice to talk about modern day struggles of being a young adult within our community and with people who can kind of relate, and I just think it’s super refreshing for a lot of folks,” Franklin said.