Mental Health America of the MidSouth (2020) Print

star-24px 2020 AARP Community Challenge Grantee

Project Category

Community Health and Economic Empowerment
└ Supporting family caregivers
Mental Health America of the Midsouth expanded its Dementia-Friendly Churches Project, which supports older adults and their caregivers by training church staff, volunteers and others about the effects of dementia and how to help those affected. Employing a multi-denominational, multi-belief system approach, MHA trained 200 individuals at 30 places of worship in Clarksville and Franklin. The organization held trainings online and recorded the sessions to make them available after the fact. They also offered congregations technical support from a certified dementia specialist.

See More Projects Like This One

Oxford Seniors Inc. (2017)

Oxford, OH

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Supporting family caregivers

Description: Oxford Seniors provides services to older residents, including transportation and meal deliveries and a day service for special-needs older adults unable to stay home by themselves. This project created the Oxford Area Community Resource Directory, a 50-page resource guide for older adults and their families. The guide contains a wide range of information for older residents, from listings for public agencies and health and wellness program to credit counseling, mental health care and home repair services. The organization publicized the guide by sending postcards to 14,000 households and staging a launch event. In 2020, Oxford Seniors and other community groups released an updated version of the guide.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

City of Clarksville (2019)

Clarksville, TN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Improved wayfinding

Description: To encourage people to park their vehicles and travel on foot, the City of Clarksville installed signs near underutilized parking lots, which display directions and walking times to destinations around downtown. The hope was that knowing the time commitment for walks would give pedestrians confidence they could manage city distances comfortably. At its Shop Small Saturday event in 2020, the City set up a booth to talk with passersby about the signs. Project organizers reported shoppers were surprised to learn how short walks were from destination to destination. The signage is part of a larger effort to promote active transportation -- such as walking and biking -- in Clarksville.

Montgomery County (2022)

Clarksville, TN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: This project created a community garden at the Wade Bourne Nature Center.

ABOUT THE AARP COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Launched in 2017, the annual AARP Community Challenge provides small grants to local governments and nonprofits in order to fund quick-action, ready-to-implement projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages.

See all nearby projects

LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED

Find articles and resources about making communities more livable for people of all ages

Visit AARP.ORG/LIVABLE
people icon

Download or order free publications from AARP Livable Communities

Check out the Livable Library
download icon

Sign up for the free, weekly, award-winning AARP Livable Communities eNewsletter

Subscribe now!
mail icon

Don't see your community listed?

LEARN HOW IT CAN JOIN THE NETWORK

Connect with your AARP State Office

AARP has offices in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

AARP Tennessee State Office

5000 Meridian Boulevard
Suite 180
Franklin, TN 37067
United States

Phone: 866-295-7274
Fax: 615-771-7071
Email: [email protected]