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Stamps, AR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: A lack of accessible restrooms made Maya Angelou Park unwelcoming to older adults, people with disabilities and families with young children. To address this, the City of Stamps made several accessibility upgrades, including installing concrete sidewalks, new doors, hardware and handrails. The park, named for the late author, poet, and activist who grew up in Stamps, is located along the banks of Lake June.

Fort Collins, CO

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Public or private transit access

Description: To help older residents navigate the region without needing to drive themselves, the PAFC held a full-day transit training on how to use the regional, fixed-route bus service connecting the Larimer County communities of Fort Collins and Loveland to downtown Denver. Project organizers recruited older adults to fill a bus for a daytrip to Denver. Participants learned how to read bus route maps and schedules, pay fares and make transfers. Videographers were on hand to film the experience, providing clips for educational videos. After the experience, all participants reported being more at ease using public transit. Organizers also used feedback from participants to advocate for additional transit service and stops Since the bus trip, PAFC has continued to partner on travel trainings, including adding offerings in Spanish.

Minneapolis, MN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety

Description: To help people become less reliant on driving to get around, Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota hosted Bikeable Community Workshops in eight municipalities. Each workshop provided community leaders with resources to make their neighborhoods more accessible and bikeable. Participants included elected officials, city staff, local nonprofits and small business owners. Following the events, BikeMN team members provided on-the-ground technical assistance and expertise to the eight host communities. Participating community leaders and bicycle advocates also formed steering committees to work on bike-friendly community goals going forward.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

Cuthbert, GA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: Andrew College activated an empty space in downtown Cuthbert into a practical, attractive gathering space, which they dubbed Magnolia Alley. Two murals by Andrew College artists already decorated the alley, since the college hosts events in the adjoining square. To make the space more useable for famers markets, art receptions and other gatherings, volunteers added benches, lighting and a hardwood pergola to provide shade.

Athens, GA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Inclusive public space improvements

Description: Athens has a rich African American history that spans many generations, yet has lacked an appropriate venue to share its stories. The Downtown Athens Development Authority created a permanent exhibit at the Ware-Lydon House Museum about people enslaved in the region, which also featured stories about their descendants. The exhibit was developed alongside the museum's new, 40-volume African American heritage library and community conversation area, which includes tables and chairs where visitors can gather. Additionally, the Authority developed the first section of an African American Heritage Pathway walking tour, which travels between the museum and the home of one of the first vaudeville theaters in the U.S. built, owned, and operated by a Black entrepreneur.

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