Missoula, MT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: To expand access to people who have historically been left out of caving, spelunking and speleology activities, the Montana State Parks Foundation installed a new ADA-compliant weather and shade covering at the entrance to the Lewis and Clark Caverns Paradise Room. Since the project completed, thousands of tours of the cave's magnificent Paradise Room have taken place. The Montana State Parks Foundation has also secured more funding and has made similar accessibility improvements at other parks across the state. The project brought in new partners, increased community awareness of accessibility efforts and led to increased engagement from volunteers and visitors.

Greenland, NH

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: The Great Bay Discovery Center serves to support land protection and research, as well as provide a space for learning about the Great Bay estuarine ecosystem. To make the space more welcoming, the Great Bay Stewards expanded the Center's accessible garden, adding a new sensory garden and an accessible swing. The Estuary Inclusion Garden now features a space where people with intellectual disabilities can experience the area through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The centerpiece of the garden is a blue heron sculpture created by a local artist and surrounded by grasses, flowers and herbs.

Danforth, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: This project brought the city's Livable Communities Center up to ADA accessibility standards with a new front walkway and entryway and a renovation of its stairwell.