Tolland, CT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: To give older adults in Tolland an outdoor space to gather and spend time, the Tolland Conservation Commission created a new park. The Commission worked with landscape architecture students at University of Connecticut to design Wanat Senior Park, a 13-acre area with accessible woodland trails, space for stargazing, a wheelchair-accessible meadow trail and meditative labyrinth. Engagement with older adults, including a design charrette and guided site tour, informed plans for the park. Volunteers of all ages planted vegetation and helped install hardscaping. The park features a pollinator garden, ADA-compliant benches and a variety of native plants. Public art -- including a sculpture of a heron and a sundial -- welcome visitors to the space.

Fort Scott, KS

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: This project will add three new Kansas Unsung Hero panels to the Unsung Heroes Park. These panels will include QR codes for language translation.

Casco, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Park enhancements

Description: Loon Echo worked to remove barriers that kept many older adults from safely accessing outdoor spaces. The group built a 0.6-mile crushed-gravel loop trail to federal accessibility standards and added ADA-compliant benches, creating a close-to-town option for recreation through open fields and forest. The project also became home to a Story Walk developed with the local library. After construction, a couple using mobility devices walked the new trail and shared their appreciation. The trail expanded access to nature for older adults and set a model for future efforts to improve outdoor accessibility in the region.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.