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The Senior Connection (2021) Print
2021 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Engaging residents in vibrant public places
└ Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Like many places, Blaine County struggled with community connectedness and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. To combat this problem, The Senior Connection created the Wood River Valley Daffodil Festival. Over three autumn days, a multigenerational group of volunteers planted 30,000 daffodil bulbs at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. As planned, the flowers blossomed during the festival, which took place the following spring. The volunteers included older adults, school classes, landscape companies and other community businesses. The festival -- which features food trucks, live music and garden tours -- is now an annual event.
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Buffalo, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: This project created monthly Jazz Night the Community Center, which provided access to cultural activities and encouraged multigenerational interaction.
Baltimore, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: Sundays in the Street was originally a proposal to close two busy streets to vehicle traffic -- for only two Sundays each month. But after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down Baltimore, the car-free experiment became permanent. Project organizers set out bollards and large planters to block off two streets in the Fells Point neighborhood, turning the area into an open-air plaza. This created space for children to play, older adults to stroll and residents to gather safely. The site hosted outdoor dining, kids' activities and live music. Already underway in the spring of 2020, the initiative gave Baltimore a jump start and provided a model for other communities dealing with COVID-19 shutdowns.
Philadelphia, PA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: Among the goals of the Go, Go, Go: Making Our Community More Livable project was to enable Chinatown's residents to build friendships -- Go outdoors. Go be creative. Go make friends -- in a linguistically and culturally accessible way. One out of five Chinatown residents is an older adult and nearly 90 percent of those individuals have limited English proficiency. To help foster social connections, the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation offered free art classes, with local artists serving as instructors. The organization then created a pop-up Chinatown art gallery featuring work created in the classes. In addition, PCDC founded a community garden club. More than 150 people ranging in age from 3 to 87 participated in the activities. The PCDC hopes to continue offering free community at its Crane Community Center, which broke ground in 2017 -- the first space of its kind in Chinatown.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Ada County, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Expansion and enhancement of transportation options
Description: Ada County lacks transportation options for many of its residents. To help local employers provide transportation for their employees, the Ada County Highway Department expanded its Commuteride program, which provides grants to small organizations and businesses -- many of whom are nonprofits or working directly with underserved populations -- to provide facility or mobility enhancements. The program provided shared bikes, bike racks, employee transit passes, bike repair stations, bike helmets, telework resources and breakroom amenities such as lockers and showers.
Boise, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Supporting family caregivers
Description: This project will develop video content that addresses the needs of caregivers and people with disabilities to foster inclusion, improved quality of life and greater self-reliance.
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