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Holy Cross Hometown Pride Committee (2025) Print
2025 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
In a very rural community with no nearby recreation options, many older adults lacked a free, low-impact way to stay active without traveling long distances. The Committee led a volunteer-driven renovation of an aging tennis court and added accessible pickleball courts with seating. Residents worked side by side to complete the project, turning construction days into a shared community effort. The courts were used daily once completed, with volunteers seeing grandparents playing pickleball with grandchildren and visitors being directed to the courts by family members. By creating a no-cost activity close to home, the project encouraged regular movement, strengthened social ties and reestablished the park as a central gathering place older adults can rely on.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
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Grand Junction, CO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Grand Junction Parks and Recreation created a strength training circuit along a walking path in Sherwood Park. To achieve this, GJPR installed four pieces of equipment for working out leg, arm and core muscles, including a rowing machine, sit up and pull up station and leg press. The park once housed similar fitness equipment, but GJCR had to remove it in the mid-nineties due to rot. Today, many residents of the surrounding neighborhoods are 50 and older, and the new equipment gives them an option for a cardio workout and strength training. The fitness stations are available to the public seven days a week and those interested can register for free instruction on how to use them.
Northumberland, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will install an accessible kayak launch to provide safe and convenient kayaking for people of all ages, especially those with mobility issues.
Cornwall, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will create an ADA-compliant walking path in a new recreation area, providing direct access to amenities like benches, exercise stations, pickleball/tennis courts, a picnic pavilion, and a pollinator garden.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Epworth, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Tower Park lacked a dedicated space to honor veterans and connect residents, and steep terrain limited access for older adults. The Legion installed a six-foot granite monument, two flagpoles and landscaping. It was unveiled during a Memorial Day ceremony that drew many community members. The project improved accessibility with terraced seating and ADA-compliant paths and inspired plans for benches and a statue. The Mayor called the effort "a collaboration of many groups and a perfect example of serving and using our gifts to honor the memory of those who fought for us and our freedom."
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Dyersville, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space improvements to support recovery after extreme weather events
Description: As part of an efforts to recover from a flood, this project created a community plaza and amphitheater in Dyersville. The green space links to a walking and biking trail, which is connected to the city's downtown riverwalk. To make the new plaza accessible, project organizers added diagonal parking, made accessibility upgrades to crosswalks, created new sidewalks and built a stage and canopy onsite. Today the site hosts a market, concerts and movie nights. It is also a venue for Beyond the Game events -- a gathering marking Dyersville's baseball history as the site of the Field of Dreams.
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