See More Projects Like This One

Bethel, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services

Description: The Town of Bethel's Age-Friendly Community Initiative created four displays featuring adaptive tools, as well as a catalog with descriptions of each tools and information about where to buy them. One display has been deployed at community outreach events attended by hundreds of residents. Two others are available for nearby communities to borrow for their own events. A local hardware store provided a home for the third display to make adaptive tools available to Bethel residents. In addition, project organizers engaged an occupational therapist to conduct home assessments to help residents determine their risk of falls. Grant funds also supported the local smoke alarm installation and fire escape plan program, conducted in partnership with local fire departments and the Maine Red Cross, as well as the National Fire Protection Association's Be Safe in Your Home initiative.

Spooner, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services

Description: To help homeowners and renters maintain their homes, Wild Rivers Habitat for Humanity created a tool lending library. Volunteers constructed shelving to display a variety of hand and power tools, which library patrons can check out and take home. To increase residents' DIY know-how, Habitat also hosted a series of skills labs for residents. In the future, the nonprofit hopes to create a mobile version of the lending library to use throughout the community.

La Crosse, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services

Description: This project created a lending library of home improvement and gardening tools for library patrons to check out.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

Seattle, WA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Digital navigation skills

Description: This project will provide digital literacy classes to Latino immigrant workers. This will give lower-income residents access to computers and improve their technology skills, allowing them to access job opportunities.

Seattle, WA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Engaging residents alongside thought leaders in problem solving

Description: Seattle's city government invited technology specialists, designers and older adults to take part in a weekend hackathon. Participants brainstormed ways to use public data and technology to understand the built environment and improve the lives of Seattle's older adult residents. The City offered cash prizes to teams with winning ideas. Team Pandora for Streets took home the top prize for their map that used unusual crowdsourced data to evaluate the urban environment, such as street-level smells and noises. Other winning projects used crowdsourced bus stop data to evaluate accessibility and visualized needed repairs to Seattle's sidewalk network. Part of the Age-Friendly Seattle initiative, the civic hackathon reflects Seattle's commitment to becoming a livable community for people of all ages and abilities, Candice Faber, the city's civic technology advocate, said.

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