Imagine moving to a new city, not knowing a soul. Or moving back to your hometown but not feeling connected to the community you once knew. How about feeling lost following years of self-isolation after a global pandemic? These daunting feelings are those of local Sonoma County women and Santa Rosa Junior College students looking for community.
SRJC students spend much of their time sitting in classrooms and commuting to and from school, so it can be challenging to build a community despite being on a college campus. The SRJC community may appreciate an introduction to SoCoGalsWalk.
Business student Francisca Macchia, 27, created the social walking group for students fed up with sedentary life. The group focuses on inclusivity and building a community around Sonoma County. Each month, Macchia sets up gatherings such as nature walks or trivia nights at breweries around the county. Their goal is to help like-minded people meet and be social.
Originally from Arizona, Macchia moved to Sonoma County in 2021. Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, she found it difficult to make connections in her new city. Eventually, she formed the group in June 2023 after gaining inspiration from a similar social group in her hometown. “I thought that I could do that here. Especially since I wasn’t finding a space just for making friends,” Macchia said.
The group has an Instagram page and a Discord channel, @Socogalswalk, where members can plan individual meetups in addition to the group events headed by Macchia. SoCoGalsWalk’s motto is displayed in its Instagram bio: “ALL are welcome.”
Inclusivity was crucial to Macchia. “I wanted this group to not have a lot of barriers to entry, so being really inclusive, low cost [and] friendly,” she said. She had noticed Sonoma County lacked a space for women and queer people to just make friends. “I didn’t want there to be any pressure that you would come to a group like this and it would be like a dating thing.”
In 2015, The Press Democrat detailed a study conducted by Sonoma State University Assistant Sociology Professor Brian
Gillespie, stating it was one of the most comprehensive studies on friendships. It stated, “People reported an average of four friends each, spread out over a lifetime, with numbers dropping as men and women aged.”
SoCoGalsWalk held a nature walk at Joe Rodota Trail on Oct. 26. Attendees joined Macchia at the meetup location, Coffee and Moore, in Sebastopol. While some of the arrivals were regulars— greeting each other by name and asking how they’ve been since the last event — some were attending their first SoCoGalsWalk event. Timidly walking up to the growing circle of girls, they were instantly included in the conversation.
The trail was paved and flat, perfect for an hour of casual walking among new friends. As the group began their trek, bikers passed swiftly, calling out, “On your left, girls!” Down the path the pack went, basking under the sun and shady patches the trees provided. The forest awakened as the group traversed the path, footsteps on gravel and chatter among the gals enlivening the quiet walkway.
Teresa Righetti, 23, a nursing assistant in Santa Rosa, walked toward the end of the line of gals. She recently became a regular at the SoCoGalsWalk events after finding the group through one of her friends on social media. Like Macchia, she wanted to make more friends after returning to Sonoma County after a stint in Southern California.
“It’s nice to be in a group where people want to meet people,” Righetti said.
Righetti enjoyed the wine-tasting event Macchia set up with Notre Vue Estate Winery and Vineyards in Windsor. The winery provided the group with a discounted wine tasting and tour around their pristine property.
They sipped wine in the sunshine on the patio, overlooking the vast vineyards. The women were able to chat with one another on the lounges over a couple of splashes of some of Notre Vue’s best wines. “I’d like to go back, it was so pretty,” Righetti said.
Yisela Guzman, a SoCoGalsWalk regular, appreciates the variety of events the group offers. “There is something for everyone,” Guzman said. She likes the craft nights and book club Macchia hosts.
Cassidy Michaels, 24, helped lead the walk once the gals hit the turnaround mark. Michaels moved to Santa Rosa for her career, from Colorado, and had few connections in Santa Rosa before relocating. The Oct. 26 walk was her second event with SoCoGalsWalk, and she is a fan so far.
“I feel more attached to where I live now. I have a reason to stay here,” Michaels said. “[It was] a little bit lonely only having work friends. It’s a different vibe having friends outside of work.”
While walking back to the meet-up location, Michaels and others bonded over popular music. Michaels sported a Noah Kahan shirt, and the gals learned that some of them attended the same concert in Berkeley over the summer without knowing it.
Macchia always ends the walks with an offer to stay and chat for a while. The gals circled up by Coffee and Moore and discussed Halloween weekend plans. Some of them also exchanged contact information and Instagram handles to connect in the future.
Macchia estimates that 200 people have attended one event or another since she launched the group in 2023. “It’s something that I started to do to make friends for myself, and now I don’t want to stop doing it because I see the friendships other people make. That keeps me wanting to do it,” she said.
