Abingdon, VA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Public or private transit access

Description: The town will improve accessibility and transportation access to help residents reach a local recreation center. This project will improve parking options at the center and promote public transportation use through transit training opportunities.

Grayson County, VA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Addressing community health

Description: Many residents of rural Grayson County lack internet access. To help them get information about the COVID-19 pandemic, Grayson County set up a phone hotline staffed by older adult volunteers. The service helped callers find out how to apply for financial assistance, where to find face masks or how to get help acquiring food or medicine. The County Emergency Services Coordinator trained the volunteers, ensuring they had accurate information during the pandemic's onset. Project organizers made sure the service was available 24 hours a day, with three shifts of volunteers available for calls and software to manage phone queues. The initiative's success spurred the Emergency Services Coordinator to commit funding to continue the helpline for future emergency situations.