Macon, GA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: Before 24/7 television, air-conditioning and smartphones, sitting outside and talking over a game of chess or checkers was a popular pastime. To give residents of all ages in South Macon a place to gather, South Macon Art Revitalization Technology purchased outdoor checkerboard tables and two oversized Connect Four games. A crew of neighborhood residents serve as volunteer game instructors onsite. Chess, checkers and Connect Four are games that require critical thinking, patience and skill, SMART secretary Frankie Lewis said, noting that many older people in the neighborhood are accomplished chess and checkers players. We want to make sure their skills don't get lost due to the lack of activity, and we want the elders in our community to share their knowledge with people here of all ages, but especially our youth.

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.

Imperial, NE

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: A vacant lot in the heart of Imperial's downtown had been an eyesore for decades. To put the space to better use, the City of Imperial activated the space, creating a new pocket park. Volunteers helped create several murals onsite and installed a mosaic dragon sculpture, designed to double as a play structure for children. Using upcycled existing picnic tables and railroad ties, they also created a circular seating area, dubbed the chatroom. Local elementary school students and residents of an assisted living facility teamed up to paint tiles to decorate outdoor sectional couch. And volunteers laid down artificial turf -- a material chosen to make the mini-park easy to maintain. Raised flower beds completed the space. Since the mini-park's completion, organizers say community members continue to brainstorm ways to improve the pocket park, which they say has revitalized Imperial's arts scene.