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City of Edgemont (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
An abandoned tennis court in the town's only park left older adults with few options for daily physical activity. Volunteers transformed the space into two regulation pickleball courts by resurfacing and painting the area. They also installed posts and nets near the local adult center to have easy equipment access. The courts now offer low-impact exercise and social interaction, helping reduce isolation and health risks. Daily use reports and plans for tournaments signal lasting benefits for residents and visitors, who have expressed excitement that these courts are now available.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
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Waycross, GA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Bazemore Park had no seating or shade, leaving older adults without a safe, comfortable place to gather or enjoy nature. To address this, the agency installed a 12-foot octagonal gazebo with benches and added string lights for usability. Volunteers assembled the structure and hosted a ribbon-cutting celebration. The new covered space now serves as a hub for social connection near homes, churches and a fire station, encouraging outdoor activity and community events-benefits tied to improved health and reduced isolation.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Cascade, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: The Town of Cascade created an accessible picnic area in North Railroad Park, within walking distance of many local amenities. Town staff poured a concrete pad for the site, where they installed a walled seating area with two ADA-compliant picnic tables and a new flagpole. The local garden club lent a hand by filling at the site planters with flowers. Each year, the Town evaluates the accessibility of the projects it undertakes, and town leaders are committed to providing gathering spaces where residents of all abilities can gather.
Tolland, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To give older adults in Tolland an outdoor space to gather and spend time, the Tolland Conservation Commission created a new park. The Commission worked with landscape architecture students at University of Connecticut to design Wanat Senior Park, a 13-acre area with accessible woodland trails, space for stargazing, a wheelchair-accessible meadow trail and meditative labyrinth. Engagement with older adults, including a design charrette and guided site tour, informed plans for the park. Volunteers of all ages planted vegetation and helped install hardscaping. The park features a pollinator garden, ADA-compliant benches and a variety of native plants. Public art -- including a sculpture of a heron and a sundial -- welcome visitors to the space.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Custer, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: After flooding destroyed the Custer Community Garden, the Custer Area Economic Development set out to relocate the beloved amenity to a new site. The organization created a new garden at a local high school, installing 16 raised beds, including wheelchair accessible and raised options to accommodate gardeners of all ability levels. Workers laid compost and mulch at the site and installed fencing to keep out foraging wildlife. The school's lunch program now has access to excess produce grown in the garden, which also provides educational programming to the community. Project organizers report that since the improvements, leaders from neighboring communities have reached out for advice for creating their own gardens.
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