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Food is Free Tacoma (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Many families in Tacoma struggle to access fresh, nutritious food. To allow residents to harvest vegetables in their own neighborhoods, Food is Free planted garden plots throughout the city. Organizers installed raised garden beds in residents' front yards, in tree boxes and in the public right-of-way along the city's sidewalks. Food is Free ensured the gardens met the City's code requirements. Each garden produces about 100 pounds of produce annually. Gardeners get to keep a fifth of their harvest, with the rest offered to residents during food share events held in a local park. In addition to increasing food access, project organizers say the effort helped participants -- including older adults -- become more engaged with one another.
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Pine Bluff, AR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: For children living below the poverty line in Pine Bluffs, affordable fruits and vegetables are difficult to come by. The Seed to Table Community Garden helps to close the gap, providing garden plots for local families. The City of Pine Bluffs further improved the garden by installing an accessible pavilion and eight benches. They also provided extra gardening supplies, fertilizer and seedlings to help the garden serve additional residents.
Hamilton, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project engaged older adults to serve as hosts of a community garden in their own yards or elsewhere. Teen volunteers maintained the gardens, with hosts doing the watering and receiving a share of the produce. The hosts donated the rest of the produce.
Cabot, AR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create a Crops and Canines program, enabling older adults to grow their own food while enjoying the company of supervised dogs to reduce stress, anxiety and depression.
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Tacoma, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience
Description: This project will provide formerly incarcerated older adults with digital and financial literacy training, employment services and food assistance, with the goal of fostering livable communities and preventing recidivism.
Puyallup, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience
Description: This project created an age-friendly business certification program, which identifies businesses that intentionally accommodate older adult customers. After recruiting businesses to participate, project organizers scored each one based on customer service, environment, access and discounts. To incentivize businesses to participate, the Main Street Association chose six businesses with a 90 score to win decorative planter boxes. Participating businesses signed a pledge to be age-friendly and received certification stickers to display in their storefront windows. Businesses can apply to be re-certified every two years.
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