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Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Trails
└ Trails
The Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail is an 83-mile bicycle route that runs between Woodsville, N.H to Bethel, Maine. Stitched together from existing rail trails, dirt roads, and paved backroads, the route winds though scenic river valleys and around the slopes of the White Mountains. To make the route more welcoming to people of all ages and abilities, this project installed benches. Project organizers chose two ADA-accessible sections of the path for the new seating -- the Presidential Rail Trail and the Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge. They enlisted the help of two llamas to haul lumber to several scenic spots, then volunteers worked to put the benches together onsite.
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See More Projects Like This One
Renton, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: To mark National PARK(ing) day, the City of Renton hosted a celebration downtown. Hoping to stimulate activity in the city's core and generate discussions about the use of public space, project organizers set up five parklets - small parks created in the footprint of street parking spaces. These became mini event spaces for the day, hosting live music, games of chess, interactive art projects, drum lessons, outdoor dining and people watching. Nonprofits and downtown businesses stepped up to host the parklets and event organizers passed out maps showing the locations of each parklet. To give visitors a reason to stroll the streets, the event featured vendor booths and food trucks. Organizers say the pop-up highlighted the need for downtown spaces for older adults to congregate. In 2020, lessons learned from PARK(ing) Day informed efforts to offer safe outdoor gathering spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in the years since Renton has continued to celebrate National PARK(ing) Day.
Harahan, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Walkability
Description: The city will conduct four walk audits along a state highway to identify potential locations for sidewalk and crosswalk improvements. This project will recruit volunteers from a local senior center to participate.
Mount Vernon, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: To help older adults remain in their homes, the Mount Vernon Community Partnership Coalition created a tool library stocked with home repair and gardening tools. A subsequent grant allowed the tool library to move out of the town office's basement to an adjacent shed for ease of storage and tool accessibility. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed the opening of the tool library, but once it did open, the gardening tools proved most popular. The Coalition recently relocated the shed and turned over tool library operations to the local Grange, which focuses on gardening and growing food. Adjacent communities also sought out the Coalition's experience to evaluate opening their own tool library.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Bethel, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: The Town of Bethel's Age-Friendly Community Initiative created four displays featuring adaptive tools, as well as a catalog with descriptions of each tools and information about where to buy them. One display has been deployed at community outreach events attended by hundreds of residents. Two others are available for nearby communities to borrow for their own events. A local hardware store provided a home for the third display to make adaptive tools available to Bethel residents. In addition, project organizers engaged an occupational therapist to conduct home assessments to help residents determine their risk of falls. Grant funds also supported the local smoke alarm installation and fire escape plan program, conducted in partnership with local fire departments and the Maine Red Cross, as well as the National Fire Protection Association's Be Safe in Your Home initiative.
Bethlehem, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Improved wayfinding
Description: This project will develop large-print maps of cycling trails, safe road riding routes and supporting infrastructure, designed specifically for use by cyclists aged 50.
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