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Advisory Committee on Aging (2017) Print
2017 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
The Town of Bowdoinham provided elevated planters to six residents who, because of disabilities, could not maintain traditional, in-the-ground gardens. Members of the local Masons Lodge constructed the raised beds and delivered soil to each recipient. To showcase the planters, the Town hosted a community meal featuring local produce, which included a presentation about the benefits of raised beds. In addition, the Town founded a garden club, which meets monthly.
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See More Projects Like This One
Kansas City, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The grant will turn a formerly blighted vacant lot into a community garden and interactive art installation.
Spokane, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will add 12 raised beds to an existing community garden and donate surplus produce to a local senior center and a church.
St. Johnsbury, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To give residents access to fresh produce, the Vermont Community Garden Network installed garden beds at two affordable housing complexes in St. Johnsbury and Newport. Over several building days, volunteers worked to clear old wood and debris, cut boards to construct the raised beds, fill them with soil and plant garlic bulbs for residents to harvest in the spring. To ensure the crop's success, they also held a demonstration to teach residents how to plant, care for and harvest garlic. In addition to improving residents' physical health through nutritious food, organizers say the gardens will support mental health, too, by combating social isolation. The Network continues to host workshops and provide seeds, tools and other support to gardeners at both housing complexes.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Bowdoinham, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: The town will develop a plain language guide promoting the use of Universal Design as an approach to more inclusive, safe and accessible housing for people of all ages and abilities.
Richmond, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will install benches along Main Street where residents conduct errands, such as grocery shopping and banking. Several housing complexes for older adults and people with disabilities are nearby, yet currently there are no benches in the area.
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