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.

Ketchikan, AK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: This project will add six raised beds to a garden plot and purchase plants to give older adults the opportunity to grow vegetables and flowers while receiving the physical and mental benefits of gardening.

Salt Lake City, UT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: Salt Lake City's Taylorsville neighborhood is home to refugee families from Syria, Myanmar and Afghanistan. Many new residents, however, struggle with social isolation. To help people feel connected, Salt Lake County created a community garden at the local senior center. Volunteers built four raised beds and the County provided ergonomic gardening equipment, seeds and starter plants. Project organizers say the opportunity to garden gives older adults -- who were often farmers and ranchers in their native countries -- a renewed sense of purpose. Gardening also allows them to form relationships with their neighbors.