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Kindness Farm (2023) Print
2023 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
An overgrown, sloped area once blocked access and limited community connection. Kindness Farm transformed it into a vibrant garden with medicinal and edible plants, a covered deck and an ADA-accessible ramp. More than 180 volunteers helped create the space and joined over 50 workshops on topics from regenerative gardening to construction skills. The new area now hosts educational programs, art and music gatherings, and will provide fresh produce for donation for decades. As one volunteer shared, "The new community gardening and gathering space has brought so many community members together already... and will continue to allow for more learning opportunities and accessibility."
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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See More Projects Like This One
Chattanooga, TN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To turn an unused space into a community asset, ELLA Library created raised beds that allow older adults to garden comfortably. A retiree led the effort, and monthly events brought neighbors together to share skills and grow produce. The project sparked long-term plans for food solidarity and education, including partnerships to expand growing areas and provide ongoing support. The initiative laid the foundation for a sustainable, intergenerational gardening program.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Hill City, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Hill City's community garden needed a reliable water source to expand food production for local families and older adults. The project installed a 1,500-gallon cistern connected to a solar-powered pump, ensuring steady irrigation. Volunteers helped prepare and place the cistern, and a kick-off event marked the upgrade. The improvement makes the garden more sustainable, enabling greater participation and more produce for food pantries and homebound residents. "It brings great joy to see those little seeds become big plants and to see all the visiting and teaching and learning that happens," a participant said.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Indianapolis, IN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Indianapolis' Far Eastside neighborhood needed accessible, public green space. Keep Indianapolis Beautiful partnered with the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside to transform a vacant lot into a community orchard with native shade trees, benches, accessible pathways, nature play space and public art. The orchard and green space, which are adjacent to a community center, also feature raised garden beds, fruit trees, native shrubs and more than 700 native perennial plants. Educational signage informs visitors about the benefits of playing in nature and the role of native plants.
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Portland, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety
Description: This pilot program taught Chinese-speaking elders to use smartphones to access information about bus schedules, routes and fares. APANO held three hands-on workshops in the Jade District, one of the most diverse areas of Portland. The neighborhood is home to the city's busiest bus route, which serves a housing complex for older adults. APANO navigators worked with youth leaders fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese to teach participants to use the local transit agency's TriMet app, as well as Google Maps. Workshop organizers hoped to reach 50 participants but the first training alone welcomed more than 70 people. Organizers also led practice trips to locations important to workshop participants. APANO reports that building confidence in public transit helped stave off food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as older adults were able to travel by bus to obtain culturally specific grocery staples.
Portland, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Addressing community health
Description: This project created four COVID-19 Asian Response Teams to conduct outreach to community members at high risk during the pandemic. Made up of community health workers and behavior health counselors, each team's members were proficient in a different language. This allowed the Asian Health Service Center to provide over-the-phone counselling services, wellness checkups and basic emotional support in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese and English. In additions, the teams provided up-to-date COVID safety information and delivered culturally relevant groceries to participants. when vaccinations became available, the outreach teams pivoted to provide accurate information to clients in their native languages.
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