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Keene, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions
Description: Southwest New Hampshire faces a housing shortage that leaves older adults with few options to age in place. To address this, the commission launched an ADU Design Challenge using real homeowner case studies instead of generic sites. The effort drew 30 submissions for 11 sites, hosted an awards event with 100 attendees and created a web page showcasing designs and resources. Interest was strong, with 75 homeowners volunteering as case study sites, and architects from across New England participating. The challenge sparked conversations about statewide replication and policy reform. One organizer said homeowners' gratitude for the project "was unwavering."
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Port Charlotte, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions
Description: The Duplex Design Competition will invite designers to create low-maintenance, age-friendly homes where older adults can age in place. The project aims to balance privacy and community, promoting a healthier and more stable future for older adults.
Fresno, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions
Description: Fresno's housing affordability crisis has left many older adults unhoused, even as vacant commercial spaces sit unused. To spark solutions, the council hosted a design competition focused on repurposing a historic Chinatown building for housing. The event drew architects, engineers, students and city leaders, generated 10 conceptual designs and featured a public showcase and building tour that highlighted cultural preservation and code barriers. The effort connected professionals and advocates, creating momentum for adaptive reuse. One volunteer reflected that the experience changed his perspective on safety and livability in this part of town.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Mobile, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: When the Mobile Medical Museum added a medicinal garden to its campus, the space included a a wooden boardwalk. However, older adults and people with disabilities struggles to navigate the boardwalk. This project made the garden ADA-compliant. Organizers removed the boardwalk and repaved and widened a crumbling concrete path leading to the garden. The garden -- which features medicinal herbs -- hosts community events, as well as art and horticultural therapy classes for people with disabilities and their families.
Mobile, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Organizers with Via Health, Fitness and Enrichment Center envisioned a community green space where Mobile residents of all ages can interact. This project added two gazebos to the space, providing visitors with shade. Project organizers also installed a bike rack and dog watering station onsite and volunteers constructed a raised garden bed for growing flowers, herbs and vegetables. Since the transformation, Midtown Meets has become a meetup spot for local walking and biking clubs, a space for college students to take study breaks and a place for older adults to socialize. In addition, a new volunteer group, called Midtown Neighbors, continues to meet to work in the community garden beds.
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