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Talent Maker City (2019) Print
2019 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Community Health and Economic Empowerment
└ Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience
└ Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience
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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See More Projects Like This One
Newport, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Improved wayfinding
Description: Since the area's mills and industrial plants shut down, Newport's economy has struggled to recover. To attract visitors, the Town of Newport is working to rebrand itself Newport as a recreational destination for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and other outdoor activities. To support these efforts, the Town installed directional signs and kiosks on its trail system. The new amenities help visitors navigate and provide information about local activities. Organizers say the wayfinding improvements made the trail system more accommodating to an influx of visitors seeking out safe, outdoor recreation during COVID-19 pandemic.
Severna Park, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The Olde Severna Park Improvement Association employed high- and low-tech solutions to improve pedestrian safety in a neighborhood with a senior living facility, library, community recreation center, local gathering spaces and shopping. The organization made bright orange handheld pedestrian flags available at two crosswalks on Evergreen Road. They also added guardrails and planting strips between the sidewalk and street to help protect pedestrians. Other improvements include school crossing signage, arrows and a flashing pedestrian-activated beacon. All provide a collective alert to drivers to watch out for people traveling on foot.
Rock Springs, WY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public art installations
Description: Part of a multiyear effort to bring public art to downtown Rock Springs, this project added a new mural paying tribute to the area's mining and railroad history. The artwork then spurred redevelopment of an adjacent vacant lot, which is now a pocket park with seating, shade structures and landscaping. To help visitors learn about local history, Rock Springs Renewal Fund added interpretive signage for the mural, and for others installed nearby. Ultimately, the project's success inspired the City of Rock Springs to commission three additional murals for the pocket park. Today, the City hosts mural walks through the central business district.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Medford, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: 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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