Nashville, TN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: With the goal of reducing social isolation for older residents, Urban Housing Solutions designed and constructed a temporary parklet at Mercury Court, a small affordable housing community close to downtown Nashville. The organization outfitted the outdoor space with patio chairs, picnic tables, planter boxes, solar string lights and shade umbrellas. They also repainted a community room and decorated a wall with graphics celebrating the property's history. To ensure the space enables social interaction, a group of residents worked to coordinate social events, such as movie and game nights and community meals. In addition, Mercury Courts residents have shown interest in using the new planter boxes as garden beds. Urban Housing Solutions is a nonprofit housing developer serving Nashville's unhoused and low-income residents.

Neillsville, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: Older adults and disabled residents asked for a safe place to rest along a busy walking trail. The Neillsville Improvement Corporation turned a brushy creekside patch into an accessible spot that makes short walks doable for people who need frequent breaks. Crews cleared brush and graded the site. They added an accessible path, sturdy picnic table, a bench with a view of the creek, plus a waste bin and signage. Use jumped right away. The project is prompting plans to extend the trail and add more rest areas, with a grant application underway and a bike and pedestrian plan slated for 2026. Older and disabled residents say they are more likely to walk when places to rest are available.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Gooding, ID

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: The Gooding Public Library Foundation converted an unused area of West Park into a community commons. Located near Gooding's library, city hall and police station, the site now features accessible picnic tables, shade canopies and lidded trash cans. The library now uses the site for a variety of activities, including story time and science experiments. Library patrons, workers on lunch break and other community members also gather in the space. The library now plans to install a little free library in the park.