Dulce, NM

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: The project addressed the lack of accessible outdoor spaces where older adults could safely gather, exercise and connect. The team installed secured benches, picnic tables, pergola shades and concrete slabs that created a stable, comfortable place for daily use. These additions made the park more welcoming and supported regular outdoor activities. Residents stopped by during construction to ask about the progress and shared their excitement about enjoying meals and time outside next summer. The improvements reduced isolation, encouraged movement and set the stage for future additions such as new trees, lighting and grass that will expand the park's long-term benefits.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Roswell, NM

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: Roswell often experiences daytime temperatures well over 112 degrees Fahrenheit. The tourist town also welcomes more than 200,000 tourists each year. This project set out to help visitors and residents alike walk in downtown Roswell despite the brutal heat. Over the course of several years, Maitreet Roswell collected plastic bottle caps and container lids -- part of an effort it called Bottlecaps to Benches. Project organizers then sent a tractor trailer full of the caps to a recycling plant in Indiana, which sent back 30 benches made from recycled plastic. Maitreet Roswell then installed the benches throughout the town's commercial district, allowing pedestrians to sit and recover from the heat.

Palmer Township, PA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: Palmer Township lacked an inclusive outdoor space for cultural learning and community connection. Paza partnered with the township to create a Unity Garden featuring a Native American-inspired sculpture, medicinal plants and pollinators. A wheelchair-accessible path and benches were added, and the site was dedicated with a ceremonial blessing. The garden is now a permanent feature maintained by the library for ongoing programs. "I am proud of the change that Paza has ignited," said a local leader after the township recognized Indigenous Peoples Day, signaling lasting cultural impact.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.