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Dillard University Community Relations (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
This project created a community garden with twenty raised-bed garden boxes. Dillard University Community Relations also held six healthy-cooking demonstrations and four health fairs.
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Lawton, OK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create a community garden where Comanche elders can grow vegetables and flowers. Participating gardeners will plan, tend and harvest their plots and distribute their produce to the community.
Beverly, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The Blooming in Beverly project installed raised garden beds in older adults' front yards. Beverly Main Streets matched 50 older adults with families with young children, who built and delivered the beds, then planted flowers and vegetables in them. Project organizers hoped to foster intergenerational relationships, helping combat social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative allowed young children to make a new friend as they helped with weekly watering. Older adult participants reported they were grateful to be around children, since many had not seen their own grandchildren since the pandemic began. The intergenerational pairings also allowed older adults to reap the benefits of gardening while avoiding hard, physical exertion.
Providence, RI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Residents at a Providence center for older adults faced limited access to fresh food and social connection. Youth staff revitalized raised garden beds with vegetables and herbs for meals and transformed the courtyard with flowers and benches. They also interviewed older adults and hosted cooking demonstrations to gather cultural recipes for a second edition of a graphic novel-style cookbook. The cookbook combines stories and recipes by refugees, many of whom are age 50-plus, in order to preserve their experiences and food traditions. The garden became a source of joy and nutrition while fostering intergenerational ties. "Recording personal experiences for the cookbook is validating... and will help preserve their stories and cultures," said a partner at a local women's care center.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
New Orleans, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: Older adults at the Estates community lacked a reliable place to learn practical skills, access health guidance and connect with neighbors, which contributed to missed services and social isolation. The Housing Authority of New Orleans renovated and reopened the community center, adding a computer lab, new furnishings and flexible space for classes and gatherings. The center began hosting healthy cooking demonstrations and prepared the space for digital literacy training, with resident support staff on site. The space quickly became a hub for meetings and activities, with plans for movie nights, bingo and intergenerational programs. A resident leader said she was happy with the space and plans to bring residents together, highlighting its role in supporting learning, connection and aging in place.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
New Orleans, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: This project will engage local older adults to ensure their needs are considered in efforts to redesign several bus shelters across the city. The Committee seeks to make public transit accessible, safe, comfortable and climate-resilient for people of all ages.
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