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Hearts & Hammers (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Housing
└ Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
└ Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
This project rehabbed homes of low-income owners, including weatherstripping the construction of accessibility ramps, stairs and walkways and landscaping or yard renewal.
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Durham, NC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Like many places, Durham is experiencing an affordable housing crisis, with many longtime residents displaced from their neighborhoods. To help residents remain in their homes, Durham Habitat for Humanity expanded its Repairs Program services for low-income, older and disabled residents. The organization purchased a second-hand work truck, which helps work crews perform repairs and home maintenance tasks. Since the purchased, Habitat's teams improved homes in a year, representing a 50 percent increase from the year before. The improvements address unsafe living conditions and make homes more accessible for residents of all ages and abilities. Organizers say providing cost-effective repairs preserves affordable housing and curbs gentrification.
Grand Forks, ND
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: This project will match students with up with older residents. The students will help with chores such as yard cleanup, window washing and simple home repairs, while the older residents will mentor older students and advise them about paying bills, navigating relationships with landlords and other practical life skills.
Dubuque, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Local students will complete home modifications for low-income older adults, allowing them to age in place. The effort will also offer on-the-job training, mentorship and life planning assistance for participating students.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Falcon Heights, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Inclusive public space improvements
Description: The Philando Castile Peace Garden Committee prepared the site of its planned memorial garden honoring Falcon Heights resident Philando Castile, who was killed by police in 2016. The Committee completed surveys of the property, conducted soil testing and created renderings of the planned garden. They created mockups of a fence designed to feature community art, as well as a remembrance bench. The Committee also hosted community work days, where volunteers prepared the soil and planted greenery. In the months since, the Committee has continued to raise private donations for the garden's creation and long-term upkeep. They recently completed accessible pathways, the remembrance bench and art at the site. Located at the site of the 2016 shooting, the garden is designed to give visitors a space to collective reflect, explore solutions to combat violence and foster community agency.
Minneapolis, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Disaster Preparedness
Description: This project will conduct six sessions to prepare for summer storms and flooding. Informational magnets, checklists, and supplies will be distributed. Somali interpretation will be provided.
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