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Project GRACE (2022) Print
2022 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Older adults in Scarborough face challenges staying active and managing heating costs on fixed incomes. Project GRACE expanded three community gardens, adding 15 new beds and growing over 800 pounds of produce for local food pantries. It also hosted a "Snug It Up" workshop for 75 older adults, offering weatherization tips, free DIY supplies and emergency fuel assistance for dozens of households. The gardens fostered social engagement and healthy eating, while the workshop helped residents prepare for winter. "I applaud the essential work... that helps our community to stay comfortably warm and snugged up this winter," one attendee wrote.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
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Atlanta, GA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Using donated recycled and salvaged lumber, the Lifecycle Building Center built 14 Little Free Pantries and 10 garden beds. The Center used the fabrication work to demonstrate how the construction industry can help strengthen communities by prioritizing the reuse of materials. Mounted at chest height for easy access and placed in public areas, the pantries allow community members experiencing food insecurity to collect items as needed. Local nonprofit Friends of Refugees stocked the pantries with 1,000 pounds of food. The raised-bed planters went to the homes of refugee gardeners.
Beverly, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The Blooming in Beverly project installed raised garden beds in older adults' front yards. Beverly Main Streets matched 50 older adults with families with young children, who built and delivered the beds, then planted flowers and vegetables in them. Project organizers hoped to foster intergenerational relationships, helping combat social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative allowed young children to make a new friend as they helped with weekly watering. Older adult participants reported they were grateful to be around children, since many had not seen their own grandchildren since the pandemic began. The intergenerational pairings also allowed older adults to reap the benefits of gardening while avoiding hard, physical exertion.
Luverne, MN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Project Food Forest installed three sculptural trellises at the Prairie Ally Outdoor Center. Home to the community's food forest, garden beds at the five-acre site feature edible and medicinal plants. To commemorate Luverne's agricultural history, artists constructed each trellis out of old farm and garden tools. Project organizers also added signs displaying the common and scientific names for plants in the forest, as well as two picnic tables. Located near downtown, the site is accessible by a popular biking and walking path. The forest is open to the public daily and the Outdoor Center offers guided tours and workshops onsite.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
South Portland, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Trails
Description: The Greenbelt Trail, which serves pedestrians and cyclists, crosses several busy streets in South Portland. To make those crossings safer, Age-Friendly South Portland conducted a monthlong tactical urbanism project. They painted road delineators to separate cyclists from traffic, along with high-visibility signage to alert drivers to the crossings. Curb bump-outs decreased the distance needed for trail users to cross the street. While the fixtures were temporary, organizers gathered feedback from residents during the demonstration, which they featured in a presentation to the public works department. Project organizers report the project spurred the City to make permanent changes to one crossing.
South Portland, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Engaging people in transportation options/safety
Description: The Green Belt Trail use surged, but speeding bikes and unclear crossings made the trail risky for older walkers. The project installed dynamic speed signs to slow cyclists, and added high-visibility crosswalk signage and temporary traffic-calming measures. It also distributed reflective gear at a local resource fair. Trail users stated that cars notice the crosswalks now and are more likely to stop, and that the pedestrian experience is now far more enjoyable.
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