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Grand River Arts Council (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
A new, accessible parklet will create a gathering space outside the Palace Theater that is welcoming to older adult patrons and people with disabilities. Amenities -- including a new ramp and bench seating -- will allow the theater to host outdoor arts programming.
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New Haven, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will create welcoming, accessible outdoor spaces by installing benches at three senior centers and nearby parks.
Lebanon, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To assess the housing stock in 67 municipalities in New Hampshire and Vermont, the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission launched its Keys to the Valley Website. Grant funds supported website management and efforts to promote its use. The website includes an open data portal, where site visitors can engage with regional housing data, read personal stories, view maps and use interactive tools for analysis. Aerial and ground photography highlight the different types of housing across the region. Project organizers hope the website will highlight each community's unique housing needs, as well as features such as proximity to grocery stores and hospitals. To promote the site, commission staff created a video, launched a newsletter, attended public engagement events and talked with residents about the Keys to the Valley initiative.
Jackson, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Part of wider efforts to beautify the South Jackson neighborhood, this project activated several vacant lots, turning them into community gardens, creative market spaces and pocket parks. The revitalization initiative also added seating and landscaping at a bus stop, painted a mural and made repairs to housing subdivision entrances. Community members volunteered to help with the efforts. In recent years, South Jackson has struggled with business closures and vacant housing. In a letter to the community, Coalition Executive Director Bennie Hudson wrote, We must do something about this for ourselves as elders and adults, but even more for our children and youth. In the future, project organizers hope to set up a homeowners association for the neighborhood to support ongoing maintenance and future improvements.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Lemmon, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Staff at the Lemmon Public Library saw a need to reduce social isolation in town, particularly among older residents. To address this, they set out to improve the library's public gathering space. Project organizers created a new bakery cafe, purchasing folding tables with stacking chairs, an acrylic pastry cabinet, a cake cover and cupcake display, tablecloths and pump pots for coffee. Since the cafe's opening, the library has used new tables and chairs at hundreds of events and the space has accommodated pop-up shops. The opportunity to bake for the cafe led some residents to launch their own baking businesses and one retired baker was inspired to plan a workshop for women starting businesses. Sparked by the success of the cafe, library staff have since pursued other opportunities to expand community space, including providing library patrons with an outdoor area for reading and gathering.
Lemmon, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: The project will purchase a portable dance floor, which residents will be able to check out from the library for local events.
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