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.

St. Paul, MN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Reconnecting Communities

Description: This project will create a virtual reality production depicting life in the Rondo neighborhood before, during and after a 1960s Interstate highway project split the community in two. Organizers will ask older residents to contribute their stories.