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Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority (2018) Print
2018 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
The Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority saw an opportunity to revitalize an abandoned volleyball court behind one of their public housing buildings, creating a space to bring residents together and address social isolation. Using input from the residents of Riverview Tower, an apartment building for low-income older adults, they created a garden where residents can grow their own fruits and vegetables. The garden has places to sit and features accessibility features for residents with mobility challenges. Additionally, the space includes sensory areas, which allow visitors to smell, touch and taste herbs, fruits and berries.
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Boston, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Wakullah Street Community Garden worked to remove access barriers that limited older adults from fully using a long-standing neighborhood garden. Uneven paths, limited seating and low lighting reduced safety and shortened visits, making it harder to gather and garden. The project cleared and reoriented pathways toward shared seating areas, added lighting and prepared the site for benches, internet access and a greenhouse. Older adults volunteered alongside neighbors to shape the upgrades and plan how the space should function. Early improvements increased participation and time spent in the garden, while planned additions position the space for longer hours and resident-led activities. The work supports safer access, stronger social connection and continued use of the garden as a shared community space.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Philadelphia, PA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: West Philadelphia lacked accessible green spaces, leaving older adults and marginalized residents without safe areas for recreation and social connection. The Park in a Truck initiative partnered with LandHealth Institute to build four demonstration gardens-Natural, Edible, Sanctuary and Event-at a former vacant lot. Volunteers installed raised beds, pollinator plants and seating amenable to people age 50-plus. The project united older adults and youth to create inclusive spaces and provided hands-on education about gardening and pollination. One participant shared, "Building demonstration gardens helped me learn what I can plant in other areas of my neighborhood." The gardens now serve as models for future community-led green spaces.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Athens, GA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Raised garden beds and benches will be installed in a new community green space. The area will support light gardening, learning and social time for older and disabled neighbors.
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Cleveland, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Bikeability
Description: Cleveland's Department of Aging and Bike Cleveland partnered to create opportunities for older adults to explore alternative forms of transportation and recreational activity. They created Silver Spokes, a free cycling program for older adults. Bike Cleveland purchased four age-friendly bikes, as well as bicycle lights and helmets. Additionally, they hosted sessions throughout the city to teach older adults safety rules of the road. They also offered short, guided rides.
Cleveland, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The May Dugan Center, which serves low-income older adults in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, hoped to create a welcoming gathering space for its Seniors on the Move program. To make the Center's outdoor area accessible, organizers outfitted the space with four ADA-compliant picnic tables. Additionally, the Center provided program participants with herb garden kits, allowing them to create windowsill gardens in their homes. Ultimately, organizers hope experience tending the kits will help SOTM participants hone their gardening skills, which they will use to plant flower beds and raised vegetable plots at the Center. This project is part of the nonprofit's larger mission to help older adults manage their financial, physical and emotional wellbeing, allowing them to safely age in place.
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