Durham, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services

Description: Like many places, Durham is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with many longtime residents displaced from their neighborhoods. To help residents remain in their homes, Durham Habitat for Humanity expanded its Repairs Program services for low-income, older and disabled residents. The organization purchased a second-hand work truck, which helps work crews perform repairs and home maintenance tasks. Since the purchased, Habitat's teams improved homes in a year, representing a 50 percent increase from the year before. The improvements address unsafe living conditions and make homes more accessible for residents of all ages and abilities. Organizers say providing cost-effective repairs preserves affordable housing and curbs gentrification.

Chapel Hill, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Transportation Systems Change

Description: This project will install pedestrian safety islands with garden beds, LED lighting and signs on streets in Chapel Hill, to make them safer for pedestrians, particularly those who are older adults.