North Yarmouth, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Emergency preparedness skills

Description: To ensure first responders can help in a fire or other emergency, North Yarmouth Fire and Rescue installed Knox Home Boxes at the homes of older adults and people with disabilities. The key safes allow firefighters and other first responders to enter homes with a key or code, without needing to damage a house's doors or windows. The boxes are set up to prevent others from accessing the key, making them secure. Project organizers report residents who originally received temporary equipment have since requested permanent installation. The Knox Box initiative remains in place today in North Yarmouth.

Yarmouth, ME

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Transportation Other

Description: Yarmouth sought to improve safety on fast-moving corridors where older adults struggled to cross and drivers often failed to yield. The town installed temporary speed tables and enhanced crosswalks at nine locations, making walking routes more visible and prompting more than 25 residents to voice support. These changes slowed vehicles and encouraged additional requests for safer crossings. Residents shared stories of safer stroller walks and an older adult noted it was the first time drivers had ever yielded to her. The pilot boosted community engagement and strengthened momentum for long-term policy updates and future investments in safer, more predictable streets.

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