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Change Labs (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
└ Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
The Nanees'Dizi Chapter government serves nearly 10,000 members of the Navajo Nation. Recently, the Chapter redid its headquarters to offer an incubation space for local vendors, artists and businesses, including adding an outdoor market. Change Labs hoped to help residents access this space, so they installed new steps and a handrail. Ahead of the work, Change Labs met with older adults in the community to understand their needs. Organizers say the project sparked a community conversation about needed infrastructure upgrades. It also strengthened relationships between local business owners and government leaders.
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Honolulu, HI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Organizers at the Waikiki Community Center at originally planned to beautify Waikiki neighborhoods by painting utility boxes with cultural images. When that project got derailed due to permit challenges, they pivoted to do much needed sidewalk safety and repair -- something local older adults identified as a community need. The Center led a campaign to educate residents of Waikiki on pedestrian safety and worked with volunteers to patch and repair more than 100 damaged areas of sidewalk. Volunteers also beautified the area along sidewalks by refreshing or replacing planter boxes.
Phoenix, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Chicas Por La Causa sought to install a crosswalk near a busy, six-lane intersection in the Maryvale neighborhood. Project organizers heard from residents that they avoid crossing the street near the Casa de Primavera -- an apartment complex for low-income residents -- because they fear getting hit by passing cars. To address this, CPLC Staff and community members collected pedestrian data to demonstrate a need for traffic calming measures to ensure safety. That allowed them to argue their case to City officials, who ultimately decided to install two flashing beacons at intersections, which help make people crossing the street more visible to drivers.
Providence, RI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Hope Street's design favored cars, limiting safe mobility for people without vehicles. PSC and their partners built a temporary urban trail, converting a parking lane into a two-way path for bikes and scooters and added a bus island. Over 2,000 residents tried the trail and 1,000 shared feedback, with most supporting permanent changes. Comments praised the safer, more vibrant street: "Hope Street feels like a recreation destination... I would come here just to stroll and hang out with friends."
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Flagstaff, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Organizers with Red Feather recognized that Native elders have a strong cultural preference to age in place in their own homes. To help older adults from the Hopi and Navajo tribes, the nonprofit set out to make elders' home safer. Case managers made home visits to conduct aging in place assessments, create a plan to modify homes and educate homeowners about safety. The nonprofit also modified homes, installing a ramp, repairing a roof and providing new kitchen appliances. Organizers say the initiative helped address health disparities -- Native elders have a lower life expectancy and higher rates of disability and chronic health conditions than other populations. Organizers anticipate home modifications will reduce falls, keeping elders out of the hospital.
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