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Rogue Retreat (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Housing
└ Lifelong housing and accessibility
└ Lifelong housing and accessibility
Recent wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic compounded a growing homelessness crisis in Medford. Part of a statewide initiative to expand non-congregate emergency shelter services, Rogue Retreat worked to convert the 47-room Redwood Inn into transitional housing. This project made accessibility upgrades to a single-room-occupancy unit on the property. Rogue Retreat hired an architect to design features including a zero-step entranceway, ADA-compliant handrails in the unit's bathroom and accessible features for the kitchenette. The upgrades allow Rogue Retreat to provide shelter for unhoused individuals of all ages and abilities, giving them needed stability as they search for permanent housing.
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Phoenix, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: Organizers with G.A.S.K.I.N.S. hoped to use smart home technology to help older adults safely age in place. Volunteers conducted home assessments, using AARP's Home Fit Guide and other assessment tools. They then completed home modifications for seven families, completing repairs, adding accessibility features and providing them with smart home technology, such as camera doorbells. Finally, they trained program participants on how to use the new technology. Organizers report the interventions improved participants' mental health and enabled them to live more safely and comfortably in their homes.
Powhatan County, VA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: The site of Powhatan's historic Pocahontas School sat unused for many years. Organizers with Habitat for Humanity saw the campus as an opportunity to provide needed affordable housing for local older adults. To envision possibilities for the space, Habitat hosted four community design. At the workshops community members worked with a local architectural firm to draw up plans to transform two school structures into apartment buildings offering one- and two-bedroom units. Once completed, the development will offer 21 new affordable housing units in total. Organizers say the charrette also helped attract 2.2 million in financing for the project. Going forward, Habitat plans to continue to explore ways to fill the area's growing need for affordable housing.
Seattle, WA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: Older women experiencing homelessness faced safety risks and mobility barriers when an elevator outage and hazardous flooring limited access to essential services. To address this, EGH installed a stair lift, replaced unsafe flooring and added a security system, creating a safer, more accessible space. The renovated Empowerment Space now hosts health clinics, vaccine events and wellness classes, giving women a secure place to receive care and build community. These upgrades are long-term investments that strengthen emergency preparedness and expand programming for older adults.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Medford, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing
Description: Medford faced a shortage of accessible, affordable housing as most new units were detached single-family homes despite Oregon's middle housing law. To change this, the city produced permit-ready plans for duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes with accessible features, coordinated with LifeLong Housing standards. Designed for single-family lots in walkable neighborhoods, these plans cut costs and simplify permitting. They aim to expand housing choices for older adults to age in place and foster multi-generational living, while also prompting conversations about state code updates to ease future development.
Talent, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience
Description: Through a series of intergenerational workshops, Talent Maker City invited residents of all ages to learn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) skills, such as carpentry, 3D printing and screen printing. Workshop activities included screen printing shirts for a garden club fundraiser, building bat houses and making pollinator watering dishes. The pollinator theme reflected Talent's designation as a Bee City USA and local interest in pollinator gardens. Although COVID-19 restrictions curtailed the program's full impact, the city's maker space established a partnership with the Talent Garden Club. Future plans include programming to promote Talent as an age-friendly city.
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