AARP Hearing Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
Songbird Community Garden (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Older gardeners struggled with heavy clay soil and low beds, making gardening painful and limiting produce donations to food pantries. The garden added four tall raised beds, five fruit trees and drip irrigation systems. It also put in kneeler benches and hose hangers to reduce strain and improve safety. These upgrades let older adults keep gardening and boosted donations of fresh vegetables. One gardener said moving to a raised bed let her continue gardening despite physical limitations, while others praised the ease and sense of community the improvements provide.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Photo Gallery
Image:
Click on a photo to learn more
See More Projects Like This One
Madison Heights, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: The Love Garden at the Chinese Community Center is popular with Madison Heights residents. To make the space more accessible and welcoming, the Association of Chinese Americans expanded the garden with a greenhouse, gazebo and new benches. The greenhouse enables the organization to grow more plants and involve new community members, and serves as a service and storage area for the annual Healthy Gardening Fair. With its contemplative environment, the gazebo offers an inviting, safe gathering place for community members to gather for meditation, Tai-Chi and light exercise. Organizers hope the upgraded amenities help improve residents' physical and mental health.
Omaha, NE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Two Omaha neighborhoods lacked access to fresh produce and safe outdoor spaces, leaving older adults with few options to garden or connect. Conservation Nebraska built eight raised garden beds and four benches from recycled plastic lumber, making gardening accessible and sustainable. Five community events and 36 volunteers, including many age 50-plus, helped transform vacant lots into vibrant spaces. These improvements will last for years, promoting health and reducing isolation by giving older adults a place to grow food and build relationships.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Anchorage, AK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Many Anchorage residents who visit the city's food pantries have traditionally lacked access to fresh produce. The St. Francis House Food Pantry, run by Catholic Social Services, serves more than 10,000 people every year, distributing more than 700,000 pounds of food. To offer more fresh vegetables, CSS transformed an underused courtyard on the St. Francis House property into a community garden with 15 raised beds. Volunteers also created a mural depicting Alaska wildlife to decorate the area used for drive-through food pickup. Older adult volunteers manage the garden, which gives food pantry clients and CSS staff a space to share ideas and culture across socioeconomic, age and racial boundaries.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Billings, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: Older adults in Billings faced high screen time and low physical activity, increasing risks for isolation and health decline. To address this, the coalition added a surface challenge board and walking signs in Lillis Park, encouraging balance exercises and daily movement. These features complement pickleball courts and trails, creating a more inclusive space for all ages. The project set a model for age-friendly park design and will support fall prevention programs. "I am excited to have a walking trail and support to stay fit in my neighborhood," said one of the project participants.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
LEARN MORE AND STAY INFORMED
Find articles and resources about making communities more livable for people of all ages
Download or order free publications from AARP Livable Communities
Sign up for the free, weekly, award-winning AARP Livable Communities eNewsletter
Don't see your community listed?
LEARN HOW IT CAN JOIN THE NETWORKConnect with your AARP State Office
AARP has offices in all 50 states as well as in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
AARP Montana State Office
30 West 14th Street
Suite 301
Helena, MT 59601
United States