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Blackfeet Eagle Shield Center (2018) Print
2018 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
This project enhanced the Eagle Shield Senior Center's outdoor space, adding canopy swings, as well as fencing and landscaping. Project organizers hope the outdoor area becomes an age-friendly gathering space, giving Blackfeet elders a place to share their culture and language with each other -- and with future generations.
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Gastonia, NC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The Gaston County Department of Health and Human Services beautified a public space near Gastonia's Schiele Museum and the town's library. To encourage residents to get out and walk, the Department added a sidewalk mural at the library, which depicts astronauts on a spacewalk. Museum staff installed an outdoor exhibit about the Solar System. In addition, project organizers commissioned a local metalworks shop to create benches with a celestial theme. Other placemaking enhancements included adding planters and new graphic designs to adorn the nearby transit shelter, as well an amenity map display to help visitors locate nearby trails and greenspace.
Springfield, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
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Santa Rosa Beach, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Older adults in Walton County had few options for outdoor recreation and social connection. To address this, the county transformed a library courtyard into a gaming garden with a ping-pong table, chess table and corn hole set. These additions created a welcoming space for residents to gather and stay active. The project introduced a new venue for multigenerational interaction and prompted plans for future upgrades, including walkways to improve accessibility.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
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Cut Bank, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Cut Bank's dog park lacked shade, seating and accessible paths, leaving older adults with few options for safe outdoor recreation. The city added an ADA-compliant paved walking path, benches and shaded structures, creating a level route for older adults and people with mobility challenges. Signage and outreach raised awareness, turning the park into a gathering place for residents and their pets. Residents from nearby housing now use the space regularly, and one person shared during Walktoberfest that they appreciated "a level walking path... not linear so could walk for as long or short a time as they wanted."
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Cut Bank, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will create a 1.4-mile paved, ADA-compliant path connecting the City of Cut Bank to the School Districts Sports Complex and Glacier Historical Museum. It aims to provide a safe walking route for pedestrians.
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