PHOTO ESSAY: Grassroots groups tackle social isolation

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Josh Pyles grew up on the farm where he now lives in Port Royal, Kentucky. His wife, Ashley Pyles, had never farmed before. But both are fully committed at their Blue Meadow Beef farm, where they and their three children raise beef cattle for local consumers.

“At the end of the day, we want it to be reasonable and affordable for everyone to have access to good, natural, fresh food for their family in a local capacity,” said Ashley Pyles.

It's hard work — feeding hundreds of cattle, monitoring them around the clock when they're calving — and it often can be isolating. But they’re not alone.

They’re part of a small cooperative of cattle farmers, Our Home Place Meat, that aims to support small farmers by providing stable markets and income for farmers, bringing their beef to area restaurants and individual consumers. The cooperative also aims to preserve and strengthen land-conserving communities for future generations.

The cooperative is just one of many examples around the country of grassroots efforts — by congregations, neighborhood groups, civic organizations and more — to rebuild community bonds at a time in which people are disconnected from each other at historic levels, with loneliness describe as “epidemic.”

Another grassroots project is based in a Baltimore neighborhood. There residents and visitors gathered in October for a Finding Home Potluck and Homestead Tour, organized by the nonprofit Baltimore Gift Economy.

Several neighbors along the short block of Collins Avenue are in an “intentional community,” where they commit to look after each other and cooperate on tasks such as raising backyard hens and sharing rides and child care.

“On this street, it's just a different world, with the intentionality of really getting to know people and getting engaged with people,” said Ulysses Archie of the Baltimore Gift Economy.

In Pittsburgh, the Neighborhood Resilience Project aims to provide “trauma-informed community development,” helping areas that have long suffered from crime, gun violence, racism and displacement.

The Orthodox ministry and the parish it shares space with, St. Moses the Black Orthodox Church, see the healing of community in spiritual terms, said the Rev. Paul Abernathy, pastor and founder of the Neighborhood Resilience Project.

“There’s many different things that we do in terms of the specific services that we offer,” he said. “But really, we’re only doing one thing. And that one thing that we’re doing is developing community.”

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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.