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North End Wellness Coalition (2020) Print
2020 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Transportation
└ Trails
└ Trails
To encourage residents to walk and socialize, the North End Wellness Coalition installed seven benches along the North Quarter Pathways, an urban walking trail in Grand Rapids' Creston neighborhood. The ADA-compliant seating is designed to accommodate residents with limited mobility. To promote walking on the Pathways' five trail loops, the Coalition also founded an Active Living Team, which is working to plan community events and programming. Project organizers say working with City staff to install the benches laid the ground for other improvements throughout Grand Rapids, including upgrades to local parks and new scooter and bike racks.
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Poplar Bluff, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Trails
Description: The project will add a connector trail for walking and biking, enabling residents to get to the Mark Twain National Forest.
Maplewood, NJ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Trails
Description: This project will create a walking loop to improve pedestrian safety for commuters and park visitors. In addition, volunteers will plant trees, shrubs and flowers to restore the park's historic entryway.
East Hartford, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Trails
Description: To improve its South Meadows Greenway trail network, Goodwin University created a wheelchair accessible picnic area. The University installed four picnic tables with seating in a location overlooking the Connecticut River. In collaboration with the East Hartford Senior Center, university officials then hosted trail walks with the goal of increasing healthy outdoor recreation for residents of the largely industrial City of East Hartford. Goodwin's campus is located on a former EPA-designated brownfield site, which the school cleaned up. Through its improvements to trails, the university hopes to improve livability in East Hartford.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Grand Rapids, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create an accessible community greenhouse, designed by graduate architecture students in collaboration with low-income older adults, to extend the growing season at a community garden.
Grand Rapids, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will enlist volunteers of all ages to repaint faded sidewalk art, improving wayfinding and walkability. The playful design will visually connect the sidewalks to a nearby pedestrian plaza and green spaces.
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