AARP Hearing Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
See More Projects Like This One
Mounds, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: City Park was deteriorating and lacked accessible features for older adults and people with disabilities. The project installed ADA-compliant benches and picnic tables, added concrete pads and walkways, upgraded bathrooms with grab bars and accessible fixtures and provided umbrellas for shade. Volunteers, including older adults, helped build and install the new amenities. These improvements made the park more welcoming and sparked momentum for future upgrades. One resident noted online, "...to have a community to be proud of, everyone has to pitch in and help." Plans include adding lighting and exploring new features like barbecue areas.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
West Liberty, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: The project will install outdoor pickleball courts and an improved walking path in a central community park. Nearby residents will have a safe place for low impact exercise, daily movement and informal social interaction.
Salmon, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: The city will improve safety and accessibility by resurfacing worn-out pickleball courts with new concrete or asphalt. The courts are particularly popular with older adults residents.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Hattiesburg, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Midtown's only public park had broken basketball hoops, little seating and no vibrant features, limiting recreation and social connection. The project transformed the space with new basketball hoops, a professionally painted court mural, two large-scale murals and four age-friendly benches along the walking track. Colorful crosswalk art improved safety and visual appeal. The park now serves as a lively gathering space for all ages. "Revitalizing and beautifying neighborhoods and parks is important work... These additions represent the power of community and working together," said a local representative.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Hattiesburg, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Duncan Lake Park in Hattiesburg's East Jerusalem neighborhood is popular with residents, yet many of the park's amenities were in disrepair. To give the park new life, Hattiesburg Landmark Preservation refurbished picnic tables with new tops featuring painted checkerboards. They also installed new benches, added a wheelchair-accessible sidewalk and created two murals depicting native plants and animals. Today, the park hosts free arts programming for residents of all ages.
LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED
Find articles and resources about making communities more livable for people of all ages
Download or order free publications from AARP Livable Communities
Sign up for the free, weekly, award-winning AARP Livable Communities eNewsletter
Don't see your community listed?
LEARN HOW IT CAN JOIN THE NETWORKConnect with your AARP State Office
AARP has offices in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AARP Mississippi State Office
141 Township Avenue
Suite 302
Ridgeland, MS 39157
United States