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Wailuku, HI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will transform a public space into an accessible gathering area with chairs and tables for people of all ages and abilities.
West Fargo, ND
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: As part of efforts to attract visitors to its downtown, the City of West Fargo hoped to turn its POW/MIA Plaza on Sheyenne Street into a gathering space. To do this, the City purchased game tables for a previously underused portion of the plaza. "This project helped demonstratethe importance of creating opportunities for fun and safe activities in the city's new and improved downtown area," City Planner Malachi Petersen said. "It is our hope that this project will lead to future projects which encourage walkability and active lifestyles in our community." Today the plaza hosts community events, including a farmers market. Project organizers hope to replicate the games in other parts of West Fargo in the future.
Central Falls, RI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Older adults in Central Falls lacked safe, weather-protected spaces for year-round socialization, leaving gatherings vulnerable to rain and cold. Progreso Latino installed and weatherized four pavilions with lighting, heating and retractable curtains, creating multi-use spaces for exercise and cultural events. The improvements allow older adults to gather safely in all seasons and are expected to support community activities for 15 years or more. At the ribbon-cutting, one participant said the celebration was "a testament to the power of culture, community and shared traditions under the shelter of a new gathering place."
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Columbus, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public place improvements to withstand extreme weather events
Description: To reduce the urban heat island effect, Friends of the lower Olentangy Watershed planted large canopy trees at an elementary school playground and near a housing complex. The area has traditionally lacked tree cover, with the nearby properties having the least canopy cover of any residential area in the local watershed. The new trees increased the local canopy from 7 percent to 22 percent -- the average for Columbus as a whole. Volunteers -- including local Scouts -- helped plant the trees. In addition, project organizers installed benches at the playground to provide a respite to teachers, children and families using the playground equipment.
Columbus, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The International Harvest Garden lacked shade and seating, leaving gardeners age 50-plus and families without a comfortable place to rest or gather. The project added a picnic table with side access for mobility aids, a shade trellis and improved walkways for easier navigation. These upgrades will support cultural events and reduce isolation, with volunteers saying the changes will make the garden "a sanctuary as well as a place of growth and education."
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