St. Croix, VI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Trails

Description: Many trails on St. Croix were impassable after hurricane damage. As part of disaster recovery efforts, Virgin Islands Trail Alliance restored eight miles of rainforest trails. To do this, volunteers cut through foliage, cleared weeds, pulled up roots and raked up debris, allowing the trails to reopen. Additionally, they installed new signage, which help visitors navigate, communicate trail rules and identify tree species. The activation effort also involved installing picnic tables and benches along the path to give people a space to rest. To help visitors access the trails, volunteers cleared parking areas and installed bollards to prevent people from driving vehicles onto the trails. Volunteer workers included participants in a nonprofit program carpentry skills program. Since the restoration, project organizers say hikers and cyclists have returned to the trails.

Belleville, NJ

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Trails

Description: Belleville turned an unused fenced lot into a pocket park to address the lack of green space in its dense neighborhoods, where many older adults lacked outdoor recreation. The project added a walking path, pollinator garden, rock garden and art display areas, with volunteers planting native species and painting rocks. A ribbon-cutting event invited residents to celebrate the new space, which now hosts health fairs and cultural activities. Participants were thrilled, with one saying that they can't wait to host events here, signaling how this transformation fosters connection and creativity.

Valdez, AK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Trails

Description: Most trails in Valdez aren't accessible to people using walkers or wheelchairs, as well as parents or grandparents pushing strollers. Organizers with Valdez Adventure Alliance hoped to make the Shoup Bay Trail more welcoming to people of all ages and abilities through improvements to its trailhead. Volunteers leveled the trailhead and added landscaping. They also installed benches to give visitors a place to rest. Since completing the improvements, organizers have continued to make accessibility upgrades along the trail itself and have rebuilt another 620 feet of pathway.