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BronxWorks (2018) Print
2018 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
The Morris Community Garden had suffered years of neglect, and the abandoned site was overrun with rats. To breathe new live into the space, BronxWorks restored the garden, located near a senior center and three schools. They renamed the space Bean Morris Garden to memorialize a young man from the neighborhood. To welcome people of all ages and abilities, the nonprofit added accessible seating to the space, along with raised garden beds. Since the renovation, residents of all ages have volunteered to tend to the plots. Organizers say the amenity offers an important outdoor gathering space for the community.
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Wilmington, DE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The center will provide ergonomic gardening tools to designed for older adults and people with mobility and strength challenges. Tools include hori horis (soil or weeding knives), adjustable telescopic rakes, two-wheeled wheelbarrows and kneeling benches.
Gettysburg, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will convert a vacant lot into a downtown community garden. Many older adult residents live in apartments that lack garden areas, so the space will allow them to cultivate home-grown produce.
Estes Park, CO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project made improvements to the Estes Valley Community Garden. The EVCG added six raised garden beds to make planting and harvesting comfortable for older gardeners and those with physical limitations. Project organizers also constructed a green waste storage box, which allows gardeners to toss their weeds rather than carry them home. Additionally, gardeners and visitors benefit from a new handwashing station, installed to increase safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project contributed to EVCG's ongoing efforts to donate plots and produce to a local food bank. Project organizers report the improvements attracted partners to the EVGC's new diversity initiative.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Bronx, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The project will convert an underutilized lot into a farmers market with cooking demonstrations and essential services for older adults.
Bronx, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To highlight the importance of green spaces, Friends of Mosholu Parkland cleaned up a neglected area of the parkland. The area lies along the Mosholu Parkway, a landscaped highway connecting two parks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the gardens became a respite for community looking for a safe, outdoor gathering space. Volunteers expanded an azalea garden and revived the Jerome Garden Plaza. In addition, the organization worked with a local artist to design and install banners celebrating the Parkland. The banners played off the metaphor of an aquarium, which represented residents confined within their apartments during the COVID-19 pandemic, separated from the parkland below like fish behind a glass barrier. Project organizers say these initial improvements have since attracted additional investment in the Mosholu Parkland.
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