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Opelousas, LA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: The City of Opelousas had no accessible seating outdoor seating in its downtown. So City officials set out to create comfortable, wheelchair-accessible gathering places, creating a more welcoming Main Street for older adults with mobility challenges. They installed ADA-compliant rest areas with benches and picnic tables at several downtown locations, including the farmers market, the local courthouse and the public library.

Claymont, DE

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: To allow people of all ages and abilities to walk for exercise, the Claymont Community Center added an outdoor walking path and ramp to its facilities. The new, ADA-accessible walkway leads from the Center's building to its track and fields. Organizers say the pathway will allow more older adults to attend sporting events onside, such as football and baseball games. To make the pathway attractive, volunteers planted flowers. They also installed benches and picnic tables nearby. Organizers plan to add lighting to the walkway in the future, making it easier to traverse after dark.

Hallowell, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Accessibility of amenities

Description: An ADA-accessible ramp now spans the steep bank separating Granite City Park's parking lot from Hallowell's popular waterfront boardwalk and boat ramp. Vision Hallowell and the Hallowell All Age-Friendly Committee designed the 24-foot aluminum ramp to be installed seasonally, for use in the spring, summer and fall months. It joins several municipal ramps and docks that give residents access to the Kennebec River. While Hallowell has no town square, the waterfront fills this role. Thanks to the new ramp, older adults, those with mobility challenges and parents pushing baby strollers are now able to access the city's waterfront bulkhead, a center of activity featuring dozens of colorful Adirondack chairs.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

Wasilla, AK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: This project installed eight ADA-compliant benches and 22 planters to create a community garden.

Palmer, AK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: This project set out to create an arts and cultural trail in Palmer by installing four permanent pieces of art throughout town. To oversee the project -- including artist and site selection and community engagement -- the United Way of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough established a volunteer advisory board. They then selected four local artists. Once completed, the art will be displayed near affordable housing complexes, local business, trails and parks and at Palmer's public library. Each piece pays tribute to local history and identity, with one sculpture depicting the Matanuska Maid and a series of ceramic works evoking the flow and shape of the Alaska landscape.

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