Columbia, SC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: In Columbia, many older adults want to grow and preserve food but face tight budgets, limited space and few chances to learn practical skills alongside others. NoMa STEAM addressed this by expanding hands-on and virtual programming at the Bridge of Hope Community Garden. Older adults joined garden talks and food preservation workshops. Volunteer days focused on low-maintenance growing, composting and safe canning. One participant said simple tips, like new ways to prepare harvested vegetables, helped them use what they grew at home. Over time, the project strengthened confidence, encouraged regular physical activity and deepened connections between older adults and younger volunteers. By anchoring consistent programming in the garden, the space was reinforced as a lasting neighborhood resource for food knowledge, skill building and social connection.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Beverly, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: The Blooming in Beverly project installed raised garden beds in older adults' front yards. Beverly Main Streets matched 50 older adults with families with young children, who built and delivered the beds, then planted flowers and vegetables in them. Project organizers hoped to foster intergenerational relationships, helping combat social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative allowed young children to make a new friend as they helped with weekly watering. Older adult participants reported they were grateful to be around children, since many had not seen their own grandchildren since the pandemic began. The intergenerational pairings also allowed older adults to reap the benefits of gardening while avoiding hard, physical exertion.

Scarborough, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: Older adults in Scarborough face challenges staying active and managing heating costs on fixed incomes. Project GRACE expanded three community gardens, adding 15 new beds and growing over 800 pounds of produce for local food pantries. It also hosted a "Snug It Up" workshop for 75 older adults, offering weatherization tips, free DIY supplies and emergency fuel assistance for dozens of households. The gardens fostered social engagement and healthy eating, while the workshop helped residents prepare for winter. "I applaud the essential work... that helps our community to stay comfortably warm and snugged up this winter," one attendee wrote.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.