Virginia City, MT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: Virginia City's historic library and museum were inaccessible to many older adults and visitors with mobility challenges. The project funded a six-month accessibility study, including public workshops and an online survey, resulting in a detailed report with prioritized improvements. It also produced schematic designs for ramps and parking. The effort raised awareness and prompted officials to include access goals in planning documents. One older adult who is a resident said he stopped visiting because of stairs and urged changes so he could "check out books and DVDs like he used to."

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Danforth, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: Danforth removed a major barrier to opening its first center for older adults by adding an ADA-compliant walkway, a new entrance and a safe stairwell. The upgrades allowed the center to open three days a week with a resource coordinator helping residents access transportation, utilities and other essentials. The center now hosts meals, tech help and social events, reducing isolation in a rural area with high poverty and disability rates. One resident, once unable to attend gatherings, shared her joy after walking "right down the paved, handicapped walkway and into the smiling faces of friends and neighbors."

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Greenland, NH

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: The Great Bay Discovery Center serves to support land protection and research, as well as provide a space for learning about the Great Bay estuarine ecosystem. To make the space more welcoming, the Great Bay Stewards expanded the Center's accessible garden, adding a new sensory garden and an accessible swing. The Estuary Inclusion Garden now features a space where people with intellectual disabilities can experience the area through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The centerpiece of the garden is a blue heron sculpture created by a local artist and surrounded by grasses, flowers and herbs.