Mosier, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Following a 2016 oil train derailment and fire that shook their small town, Mosier residents transformed loss into renewal by creating a new community center with a commercial kitchen at its core. The City purchased and installed key equipment to prepare meals for older adults, run a food pantry and help entrepreneurs develop local food products. Volunteers, including older adults and retired chefs, guided the design to meet community needs. A former mayor described the kitchen as "the heart and soul of the new Mosier Center," a place that will bring people together over shared meals while strengthening local health and opportunity.

Portland, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: This project created four COVID-19 Asian Response Teams to conduct outreach to community members at high risk during the pandemic. Made up of community health workers and behavior health counselors, each team's members were proficient in a different language. This allowed the Asian Health Service Center to provide over-the-phone counselling services, wellness checkups and basic emotional support in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese and English. In additions, the teams provided up-to-date COVID safety information and delivered culturally relevant groceries to participants. when vaccinations became available, the outreach teams pivoted to provide accurate information to clients in their native languages.

Greenville, SC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Food insecurity and limited access to preventive care left many older adults in Greenville vulnerable to chronic disease, a challenge worsened after Hurricane Helene. The Women of Worth program responded with bi-monthly health sessions offering screenings and fitness activities. It also distributed more than 360 boxes of fresh produce and expanded a hoop tunnel and community garden with raised beds for age-friendly gardening. These efforts improved nutrition and wellness for hundreds of older adults and engaged volunteers in growing over 200 pounds of vegetables. Plans include a second program site and a mobile food pantry. One participant said, "It gives me pleasure to see other older adults smile and have fun when they come into the office."