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Providence, RI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To give residents of the Amos House shelter program opportunities to socialize, as well as access to fresh produce, the Southside Community Land Trust created a community garden at the St. Martin De Porres Center. Participants in the Trust's youth program worked to build raised garden beds onsite, added seating and painted murals. To honor residents' African, Caribbean and Central American roots, organizers chose a tropical theme for the artwork. The effort was intergenerational -- older adult residents supervised the youth workers as they planted herbs and vegetables. Today, Amos House residents are involved in all aspects of tending the garden, from planting to harvesting and meal preparation. Additionally, the nonprofit's soup kitchen uses vegetables from the garden to provide tens of thousands of meals to food insecure families each year.
Grand Rapids, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create an accessible community greenhouse, designed by graduate architecture students in collaboration with low-income older adults, to extend the growing season at a community garden.
Juneau, AK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project engaged volunteers aged 50 and older to help create a community garden that serves as a social hub, outdoor classroom and natural health club.
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Muncie, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public spaces improvements to increase high-speed internet availability
Description: Sustainable Muncie Corporation installed internet access points at Madjax, the organization's warehouse, which is home to collaborative workspaces, a design and tinkering lab and a makerspace. Previously, public internet access in Muncie was limited to local libraries and coffeeshops. Now residents of the East Central neighborhood can either sit inside Madjax or access Wi-Fi from outside the facility. Project organizers hope their new outdoor internet access points help bridge the digital divide in the community. In addition, the organization is establishing an ambassador program to provide older adults with peer-to-peer technology support. They say the new internet connection has also helped Sustainable Muncie's Retirees Entrepreneurial Club get off the ground.
Kokomo, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Improved wayfinding
Description: To encourage residents to be more physically active, the YMCA in Kokomo raised their awareness of county trails, parks and other recreational amenities. The YMCA created signs for the city's trolley stops and for its Walk of Excellence Trail. The signs communicate the distance, direction and walking time to local attractions, including parks, the Kokomo Municipal Stadium and the Kokomo Beach Family Aquatic Center. They also provide information about accessibility for people with disabilities. The project gave the YMCA an opportunity to partner with local stakeholders, such as the city's parks and recreation department and the Indiana University Design Center. Since this effort, the city of Kokomo has continued to promote biking. In 2018, the city launched a free bikesharing program that provides adults and children with bikes, as well as helmets and locks.
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