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City of Urbana (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
The City of Urbana wanted to ensure its community gardens included accessibility features, allowing people of all ages to use them. The city's Arts and Culture Program conducted a needs assessment of five gardens through the Growing Community Initiative. The assessment identified needed upgrades to ensure accessibility, such as shade, accessible seating, tool availability and public safety interventions. They then installed shade sails, tool lending libraries and ADA-compliant benches. Additionally, organizers partnered with local artists to hold a workshop to create peace poles. The public art pieces are now on display in one of Urbana's gardens, located a neighborhood that had been impacted by gun violence.
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Long Beach, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: In Long Beach, older adults lacked spaces for cultural connection in a neighborhood marked by poverty and pollution. Placemaking US built a traditional communal comal using techniques developed long ago, and hosted tortilla-making workshops where elders taught masa preparation. More than 100 participants, including local chefs and volunteers, joined intergenerational sessions that celebrated heritage and sustainability. The project created lasting programming at Rancho Los Cerritos, turning it into a hub for cultural exchange and reducing isolation. One participant shared, "I didn't realize how much I missed this until I felt the heat from the comal and smelled the fresh masa."
Memphis, TN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To help more South Memphis families access fresh food, Knowledge Quest made upgrades the hydroponic system at its Green Leaf Learning Farm, installing fifty new grow towners onsite. The infrastructure improvements allow the three-acre urban farm to produce more vegetables, which Knowledge Quest makes available to local lower-income families. Project organizers say the farm's increased capacity also allows them to offer more farming and nutrition education programming, which helps community members become more self-reliant. Today the farm is an agritourism destination, hosting school field trips related to beekeeping, vegetable growing, aquaponics, green building and more.
Trinidad, CO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The museum's gardens had deteriorated, limiting educational programs and community use in a town facing food insecurity. To address this, the museum restored its historic grounds with LED solar path lights, ADA-compliant benches, wheelchair-accessible picnic tables and raised garden beds. Interpretive signage was added to connect the gardens with exhibits. These improvements created a welcoming space for learning and gathering, offering older adults accessible seating and gardening opportunities. A visitor expressed excitement about the changes, saying they look forward to enjoying the new herb and vegetable gardens.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Quincy, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Digital Connectivity for Disasters
Description: Older adults faced delays in receiving critical health updates during emergencies when information changes rapidly. The health department launched a mobile app for real-time alerts and daily health tips, promoted through health fairs and social media. The app now speeds emergency communication, reduces misleading information and strengthens trust in local health authorities. It also helps residents find services like flu clinics and will support future features such as payment integration. One user said it made it so easy to find a clinic right in her own town, underscoring its role in keeping people informed and prepared.
Batavia, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety
Description: Local officials and community organizations hoped to increase pedestrian and bicycle traffic in downtown Batavia. To do this, the Batavia Environmental Commission, Batavia Bicycle Commission, the WellBatavia Initiative and Batavia Maitreet undertook a research and promotional campaign. They hosted a walk and bike audit that taught residents urban biking skills, such as how to load a bike onto a public bus. The initiative then paired participants with residents of a local retirement community, as well as with families with small children, to help them learn about biking. The group produced a 15-minute video documentary presenting the town's history, showcasing its pedestrian and bike infrastructure and highlighting the need for future improvements. In 2022, Batavia announced it would create a bicycle and walking plan to improve city trails and make intersections safer.
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