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St. Petersburg Housing Authority (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Inflation and food deserts left many older adults in St. Petersburg struggling with nutrition and isolation. The housing authority revitalized its community garden with six raised beds, shaded seating and irrigation. It also hosted workshops on sustainable gardening, budgeting and healthy cooking. Residents helped plant and harvest produce for a community pantry, creating opportunities for exercise and social connection. The project improved access to fresh food and reduced stress, with plans for expanded programming. One participant said, "The garden is important to me because it has everlasting memories... I would love to see this garden flourish again."
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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Project Category: Community Gardens
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Stamford, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To make Fairgate Farm more accessible for people of all ages and abilities, project organizers extended an existing ADA-compliant crushed stone walkway leading from the farm's entrance to its market. They also made gathering at the farm more comfortable by installing picnic tables, benches, a bike rack and raised gardening beds. The urban garden and community gathering space on Stamford's West Side hosts programming for community members, from cooking demos to gardening workshops and cooking classes. Fairgate Farm attracts volunteers from across the community, who grow and distribute more than 5,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables each year. The produce is then donated to low-income volunteers, their families and local hunger relief charities.
Phoenix, AZ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project created waist-high, raised-bed planters for the Society of St. Vincent De Paul's urban farm. Designed to hold up in the Arizona sun and heat, the raised beds sit at the farm's entrance. Project organizers also planted shade trees and installed benches to better serve the garden's older adult volunteers and people with disabilities. A new chalk board also helps remind garden volunteers about progress on day-to-day tasks. Project organizers report that since the upgrades, many older volunteers have renewed interest in working in the garden.
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St. Petersburg, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Bike Audits
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St. Petersburg, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The Florida Consumer Action Network Foundation temporarily transformed a street into a route capable of safely accommodating pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicles all at once. The network saw the pop-up project as a way to build support among residents and business owners for Complete Streets. On a Sunday in October, they closed Central Avenue to vehicle traffic and installed four parklets. The parklets featured outdoor bookshelves, planers and seating, as well as a space to play bocce ball. In addition, project organizers added curb extensions at an intersection to slow traffic and narrow the crossing distance for pedestrians. While no vehicles were allowed on the road during the demonstration, the reconfiguration demonstrated pedestrian safety, even with traffic reintroduced. In 2019, the city approved a plan to redesign streets over the next two decades to accommodate cars, pedestrians and cyclists.
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