See More Projects Like This One

Grand Rapids, MI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: This project will create an accessible community greenhouse, designed by graduate architecture students in collaboration with low-income older adults, to extend the growing season at a community garden.

San Francisco, CA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: When the Florence Fang Asian Community Garden opened in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in 2014, it focused on serving Asian immigrant elders and filled a need for green space and fresh food. This project expanded the garden, adding 3,000 square feet of gardening space and making it the second largest urban farm in San Francisco. The additional space allowed gardeners to try new techniques -- such as row planting -- that increased the garden's yields. Additionally, organizers upgraded the garden's compost system and set up beehives to help with pollinating crops. The larger harvest allowed garden organizers to distribute four tons of produce annually to local families in needs, including culturally relevant foods such as bok choy and Chinese chives.

Beverly, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: The Blooming in Beverly project installed raised garden beds in older adults' front yards. Beverly Main Streets matched 50 older adults with families with young children, who built and delivered the beds, then planted flowers and vegetables in them. Project organizers hoped to foster intergenerational relationships, helping combat social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative allowed young children to make a new friend as they helped with weekly watering. Older adult participants reported they were grateful to be around children, since many had not seen their own grandchildren since the pandemic began. The intergenerational pairings also allowed older adults to reap the benefits of gardening while avoiding hard, physical exertion.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

High Point, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Bike Audits

Description: This walk audit will identify walkability upgrades in an urban neighborhood where nearly a third of the residents have no vehicle. Improved public health is a primary goal since the neighborhood experiences the county's highest rate of chronic diseases.

Forsyth County, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Supporting family caregivers

Description: The project will train 100 volunteer Aging Services Ambassadors to provide information about local services for older adults.

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