City of Mission (2021) Print

star-24px 2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee

Project Category

Public places
└ Park enhancements
The Rosebud Reservation's Kimmel Park had a bad reputation in the community, and the site badly needed maintenance. To give the space new life, the City of Mission partnered with local tribal locations to update park amenities. They installed a new playground with accessibility features, including ADA-complaint picnic tables, rubber mulch, benches and a ramp. Organizers say they hope the park becomes a welcoming space for tribal elders to visit with their grandchildren. Today, members of the community chip in to keep the park clean. And the City plans to continue making upgrades to Kimmel Park, including reopening a closed swimming pool.

See More Projects Like This One

Presidio Municipal Development District (2022)

Presidio, TX

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: This project installed barbecue grills, ADA-compliant picnic tables and park benches, exercise equipment and outdoor musical instruments at Daly Park.

Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust (2019)

Los Angeles, CA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: The 35,000 inhabitants of Los Angeles' Westlake/MacArthur Park community live within a 10-minute walk of Golden Age Park, and a third of those residents live in poverty. Working with city agencies and local senior centers, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust wanted to beautify the small park and provide a space for gardening and gathering. New picnic tables, a barbecue pit, tool shed and plantings transformed the park into an inviting center for recreation. Since the improvements, the City has footed the bill for continued maintenance. A mural to enliven the site is now in the works.

City of Rochester Hills (2018)

Rochester Hills, MI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: This grant set out to create an intergenerational exercise space in Bloomer Park. Equipment for the space includes apparatuses for building core muscles, improving posture and working the upper and lower body. Additionally, the space features a water fountain and benches.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

Black Hills Retired School Personnel (2023)

Rapid City, SD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This project will install ADA-compliant park benches, designed and built by students, at a farmers market and city park.

Canton Chamber of Commerce (2025)

Canton, SD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Bike Audits

Description: The project will conduct two bike audits, one in the city center to maximize safety and the other in the town's periphery to increase bike accessibility to the core.

ABOUT THE AARP COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Launched in 2017, the annual AARP Community Challenge provides small grants to local governments and nonprofits in order to fund quick-action, ready-to-implement projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages.

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