Port Orford, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: To revitalize Port Orford's downtown and make it more walkable, the City installed benches with built-in planters along Main Street. Sites chosen for the new benches included the local food co-op, a quilt shop and a Norwegian restaurant. A construction crew from a nearby correctional facility built four bench-planter combos. High school students made plaques to recognize the inmates for their work and AARP for funding the building supplies. After installation, the local arts council set up the community's traditional holiday crab-pot tree next to one of the benches and added festive decorations to its planter. Project organizers report downtown property owners are thrilled with the improvements and the City plans to continue adding seating to Main Street.

Roseburg, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Emergency preparedness skills

Description: Douglas County's history of wildfires and severe weather leaves older adults in rural areas at high risk, especially those who are homebound and unable to evacuate. To address this, the project distributed over 11,000 preparedness guides in English and Spanish, hosted 30 education events and provided Go kit bags and NOAA radios to more than 500 residents age 50-plus. These efforts boosted readiness and sparked neighborhood planning. A rural fire chief praised the program, saying it "helped to solidify more preparedness for some of our most vulnerable older adults...great job!"