Columbia, SC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: In Columbia, many older adults want to grow and preserve food but face tight budgets, limited space and few chances to learn practical skills alongside others. NoMa STEAM addressed this by expanding hands-on and virtual programming at the Bridge of Hope Community Garden. Older adults joined garden talks and food preservation workshops. Volunteer days focused on low-maintenance growing, composting and safe canning. One participant said simple tips, like new ways to prepare harvested vegetables, helped them use what they grew at home. Over time, the project strengthened confidence, encouraged regular physical activity and deepened connections between older adults and younger volunteers. By anchoring consistent programming in the garden, the space was reinforced as a lasting neighborhood resource for food knowledge, skill building and social connection.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Providence, RI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: Residents at a Providence center for older adults faced limited access to fresh food and social connection. Youth staff revitalized raised garden beds with vegetables and herbs for meals and transformed the courtyard with flowers and benches. They also interviewed older adults and hosted cooking demonstrations to gather cultural recipes for a second edition of a graphic novel-style cookbook. The cookbook combines stories and recipes by refugees, many of whom are age 50-plus, in order to preserve their experiences and food traditions. The garden became a source of joy and nutrition while fostering intergenerational ties. "Recording personal experiences for the cookbook is validating... and will help preserve their stories and cultures," said a partner at a local women's care center.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Pablo, MT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: On the Flathead Reservation, many older adults face food insecurity and chronic health issues tied to poor nutrition. The project installed eight gardening boxes, purchased lumber for 20 more and provided seeds and soil. Volunteers built boxes and planted vegetables, creating spaces for growing food and teaching traditional preservation. The garden now supplies fresh produce to older adult meal programs and homebound older adults, improving nutrition and reducing isolation. "I was able to plant my salad vegetables with my grandchildren... They enjoyed watering, picking and tasting what we grew," one resident said.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.