Mental-health therapist and Winnipeg Connect founder Sabrina Friesen does all she can for her patients in her one-on-one clinical work. But, sometimes, it takes a village to make someone feel welcome.

Friesen launched Winnipeg Connect in May of 2022 as a response to what she perceived as a dearth of practical solutions to widespread loneliness following an extended period of isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group now hosts “an array of different types of events that intend to bring people together in intentional, thoughtful, respectful, inclusive community,” Friesen says.

Through a curated series of community meetups, speed-dating sessions and platonic gatherings, Winnipeg Connect endeav- ours to re-establish human contact for a more mindful approach to connection.

Friesen partly credits philosophy espoused in Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking that stipulates people have an intuitive and fast-acting sense of compatibility.

“A couple of years ago, I was just really feeling like there was a practical problem with loneliness and disconnection. Just bringing people to face-to-face, in-person contact, especially coming out of the pandemic ... I think a lot of us were missing that,” she says.

“Our bodies pick up more information in person. Our nervous systems are tuned differently when we’re in person.”

The speed-dating events have a maximum of 30 participants who spend seven minutes with each other, testing the waters of romance over the course of two-and-a-half hours.

“Generally, they’ve been close to being sold out. At the end of the night, you hand your match sheet in. I take it home and put it in a spreadsheet that shows who matches and send emails out the next day, whether or not you matched,” Friesen says.

Participant and therapist Carmen Okhmatovski stumbled upon a speed-dating event online and joined with a friend hoping for a fresh experience.

“It was a comfortable environment, and people were friendly. Everyone was a little bit nervous, but it was like a common experience, so that was great,” they say.

“It’s personal and really tangible. You feel like you’re dealing with whole human beings rather than just profiles. I don’t know if it’s better (than dating apps), but it definitely is a more holistic approach.”

While the chance of finding love while speed dating may be the carrot on a stick for most, Friesen stresses the idea of all connection being equal.

“All types of relationships matter, and that can be having really good friends, that can be having a supportive community at the gym,” she says.

“We work really hard not to prioritize or put romantic relationships on top of the relationship hierarchy.”

One of Winnipeg Connect’s central tenets is to help give those seeking connec- tion the opportunity to be viewed wholly, without the advanced filters of dating apps feeding participants’ implicit biases.

“Our online world has allowed us to select out people ... we can filter out faces and races and ethnicities. We can really create this pool of homogeneity that we don’t actually expose ourselves to people who are different,” Friesen says.

“Having positive experiences where you’re seen and regarded as a whole person are really lacking in online forums. I think really meaningful community can happen online, but this is just an alternative way.”

Winnipeg Connect is hosting Speed Dating for Monogamous Humans on April 9 at Little Brown Jug (336 William Ave.) and Queer Speed Friending on April 10 at The Rec Room (696 Sterling Lyon Pkwy.). For registry and more information, visit winnipegconnect.ca.

Published in Volume 78, Number 21 of The Uniter (March 14, 2024)