Thurston County, WA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: Garden Raised Bounty installed 21 home gardens throughout Thurston County, giving the recipients access to healthy food and community connections. The organization adapted half of the gardens to meet accessibility needs and customized all of the gardens for specific recipients. Garden Raised Bounty also provided growing guides, online tutorials, seeds or starter plants, recipes and one-on-one support to ensure each garden's success. Its goal was to increase food security and provide for the mental and physical well-being of its recipients, many of whom reported the project had a positive impact on their communities and lives.

Greensboro, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: Creativity as a Catalyst for Inclusion, a project of the Creative Aging Network, worked to create a community garden and outdoor classroom for community events. Assembling a team of volunteers and community activists, they cleaned up the grounds, built raised garden beds, created walking paths and planted native vegetation. A local artisan created custom benches for the garden, created from the wood of a fallen tree on the property. To bring people into the space, local artists led a series of workshops onsite. Project organizers say activities programmed for the garden are meant to be inclusive and appeal to people of all ages and abilities.

Providence, RI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: To give residents of the Amos House shelter program opportunities to socialize, as well as access to fresh produce, the Southside Community Land Trust created a community garden at the St. Martin De Porres Center. Participants in the Trust's youth program worked to build raised garden beds onsite, added seating and painted murals. To honor residents' African, Caribbean and Central American roots, organizers chose a tropical theme for the artwork. The effort was intergenerational -- older adult residents supervised the youth workers as they planted herbs and vegetables. Today, Amos House residents are involved in all aspects of tending the garden, from planting to harvesting and meal preparation. Additionally, the nonprofit's soup kitchen uses vegetables from the garden to provide tens of thousands of meals to food insecure families each year.