See More Projects Like This One

Spokane, WA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Digital navigation skills

Description: This project will support workshops to teach digital literacy skills to refugee older adults age 60 or over. Topics include basic computer use, internet safety, and emailing, aiming to improve independence and social participation.

International Falls, MN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Digital navigation skills

Description: Older adults in rural Koochiching County lacked devices and digital skills, leaving them isolated from health care and social connections. The project offered free laptops and classes on basics and online safety, with additional laptops purchased for future sessions. Participants now use technology for telehealth, work and staying connected. One woman said, "Now more than ever, I need to be in contact with my friends... I video chat weekly and use my provider's online portal," explaining how her new laptop was vital after losing her son.

Wells, NV

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Digital navigation skills

Description: In rural Nevada, many older adults struggled with isolation and limited digital access, leaving them cut off from family and health care providers. To bridge this divide, the foundation installed laptops and tablets at centers in Wells and Carlin. It recruited local high school students to teach older residents how to use email, video calls and the internet safely. The sessions drew growing interest, with many reporting newfound confidence and eagerness to keep learning. The project not only built digital skills but also lasting connections between generations and within the community. One participant, after learning to use video chat for the first time, tearfully said she was "so happy" to finally see her granddaughter again.

Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects

San Antonio, TX

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: The City of San Antonio's World Heritage Office made improvements to the World Heritage Trail, which connects five Spanish colonial missions. The trail is one of only 24 UNESCO World Heritage sites in the U.S. To make the trail a more inviting place for people of all ages to walk, run and bike, the City added an interactive art installation beneath a highway overpass, which depicts each mission's location along the San Antonio River. They also installed limestone benches along the trail. Project organizers say the upgrades are meant to help visitors view a series of murals painted as part of a public art initiative.

San Antonio, TX

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions

Description: San Antonio needed affordable housing options for older adults, but residents lacked awareness of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Citymakery launched an outreach campaign with an informational video and a design competition, drawing 275 submissions and engaging families and students. The effort expanded through social media and libraries, sparking citywide interest and informing plans for permit-ready ADU designs. "The design process let me reflect on caring for my grandfather," said one winner, showing how the initiative connected housing solutions to real family needs.

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