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NeighborWorks Alaska (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Reconnecting Communities
└ Reconnecting Communities
Fairview has endured decades of disinvestment and danger from a highway that splits the neighborhood, leaving older adults with few safe options to walk or connect. To address this, NeighborWorks hosted creative engagement events, including a block party with real-time greenway design, art installations and a bus/walk audit focused on safety. Outreach engaged older adults and youth, with translated materials and workshops at the local center. These efforts amplified a long-standing campaign to redesign the corridor, prompting city plans for improved lanes and a greenway demonstration.
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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Sioux Falls, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Reconnecting Communities
Description: Fast, wide streets made downtown unsafe and unwelcoming for pedestrians, especially older adults who needed safer crossings and social connections. The initiative installed traffic delineators and painted bump-outs to calm traffic and improve walkability. Volunteers, including many age 50-plus, helped implement changes and joined ribbon-cutting events while cameras tracked use for future planning. The project boosted safety and social interaction and influenced plans for permanent traffic-calming measures. "It was not just about painting bump-outs... it was about connecting people to their community," organizers said after volunteers completed four days of work.
Los Angeles, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Reconnecting Communities
Description: Westwood neighborhoods were split by the 405 freeway, leaving older adults at nearby housing and the VA Hospital with unsafe, disconnected routes. To address this, Streets For All hosted pop-up events, including a community walk and an e-bike ride, to showcase mobility options and gather feedback on sidewalk and transit improvements. The events built momentum for bike lanes and first/last mile transit connections already in planning and strengthened advocacy networks. One participant said that she hadn't ridden in a decade and felt joyous by the end of the ride and had a blast!
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Anchorage, AK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety
Description: Alaska Trails worked with Bike Anchorage to shape sustainable transportation in Anchorage. The two organizations educated residents about the city's Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, an effort to integrate bike, pedestrian and train networks into a multi-modal system. They also informed residents about Anchorage's Complete Streets policy, which aims to remake city streets to safely accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers and bus riders of all ages and abilities. In addition, Alaska Trails supported Safe Routes to School, an initiative that promotes walking and bicycling to school. This outreach effort included social media posts, print and television news coverage and a newsletter. Alaska Trails continues to work to encourage locals to use the state's trails and each year Bike Anchorage holds a Winter Bike Fest to promote cycling in the city.
Anchorage, AK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Anchorage lacked safe bike routes downtown, discouraging older adults from riding beyond trails and limiting access to social destinations. Bike Anchorage introduced a two-way protected bike lane and hosted nine group rides, including a Senior Center block party, to help residents experience the new design. Riders received safety gear and repair kits, building confidence and community support. The pilot cleared the way for future bike infrastructure. One participant said the rides showed bike lanes "aren't just infrastructure, they're a catalyst for community connection."
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