Camp Verde, AZ

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: After a resident complained to the mayor that she couldn't walk the 1.6-mile trail circling Camp Verde's new multi-use park and outdoor sports complex without a spot to rest, project organizers set out to add amenities to make the path more accessible. The Camp Verde Parks and Recreation Department added eight benches along the trail, placing each bench in areas popular with older adults. The local Old Guys volunteer group, which brings together retired residents with construction expertise to do community improvement projects, did the installation. As construction continues on the sports complex, project organizers say they will look for additional places to offer seating, ensuring the facilities can welcome people of all ages and abilities.

Montpelier, VT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: This project will add a pair of rest areas to the site of a weekly farmers market, making the outdoor space more comfortable for older adults. The rest areas will include shade tents, seating and a water station.

Greenland, NH

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: The Great Bay Discovery Center serves to support land protection and research, as well as provide a space for learning about the Great Bay estuarine ecosystem. To make the space more welcoming, the Great Bay Stewards expanded the Center's accessible garden, adding a new sensory garden and an accessible swing. The Estuary Inclusion Garden now features a space where people with intellectual disabilities can experience the area through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The centerpiece of the garden is a blue heron sculpture created by a local artist and surrounded by grasses, flowers and herbs.