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Kenosha Area Family and Aging Services (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Housing
└ Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
└ Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Unsafe homes left many older adults vulnerable to falls and insecurity, with broken steps, missing handrails and doors that wouldn't lock. The program completed safety repairs for seven homes at no cost, installing indoor and outdoor handrails, adding grab bars and replacing kitchen fixtures. Volunteers handled all labor, strengthening community ties. These changes let homeowners remain independent and secure, delaying moves to assisted living. One participant said new doors finally let her lock up and feel safe after years of fear, showing how essential these repairs were for dignity and peace of mind.
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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Roseville, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Older adult homeowners in Minnesota faced rising costs and physical limits that left homes unsafe and at risk of abandonment amid a statewide shortage of affordable housing. Hearts & Hammers restored 76 houses for low-income residents age 50-plus, adding repairs like painting, weatherproofing and accessibility upgrades with help from 64 volunteers. The work preserved naturally affordable homes and reduced displacement. "With the combination of costs and physical labor, we just couldn't get things done," said one couple, adding that when the project was complete, it looked absolutely perfect.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Flagstaff, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Organizers with Red Feather recognized that Native elders have a strong cultural preference to age in place in their own homes. To help older adults from the Hopi and Navajo tribes, the nonprofit set out to make elders' home safer. Case managers made home visits to conduct aging in place assessments, create a plan to modify homes and educate homeowners about safety. The nonprofit also modified homes, installing a ramp, repairing a roof and providing new kitchen appliances. Organizers say the initiative helped address health disparities -- Native elders have a lower life expectancy and higher rates of disability and chronic health conditions than other populations. Organizers anticipate home modifications will reduce falls, keeping elders out of the hospital.
Westford, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Innovative home maintenance, repair and support services
Description: Habitat for Humanity's Critical Home Repair helps lower-income older adults and veterans remain in their homes by helping with basic repairs and maintenance tasks. This project provided tools for the initiative. The tools allow Habitat to make accessibility upgrades to homes throughout Lowell -- such as adding wheelchair ramps -- as well as expand the number of homes the organization can repair and build.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Waukegan, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Digital navigation skills
Description: Older residents in Lake County lacked devices and digital skills, leaving them unable to access health resources or stay connected. To close this gap, the organization distributed 123 laptops and provided at least 12 hours of hands-on training in familiar community spaces, supported by printed guides for continued learning. Participants reported feeling less isolated, with 80% using new skills to connect with family and 25% accessing health resources. One attendee shared, "I was scared of technology... now I feel young again," reflecting the program's impact on confidence and independence.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Greendale, WI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Improved wayfinding
Description: After gathering feedback from focus groups with residents, the Greendale Health Department installed directional signs and benches along the village's walking trails. A number of local organizations participated, including the Girls Scouts and students from the local school district. With help from the Greendale Women's Club, they also created and distributed maps of the trails. Project organizers say the effort allowed for community engagement and the new benches, signs and map help residents and visitors better utilize the community's trails.
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