AARP Hearing Center
AARP Livable Communities Map
See More Projects Like This One
Mantua, UT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will support amenities such as tables, bleachers, a bandstand, and more in Maple Springs Park, a four-seasons park with ADA-compliant walkways, benches, pickleball courts, and mountain views.
Albuquerque, NM
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The weekly La Familia Growers Market in the Dolores Huerta Gateway Park provides South Valley residents with locally grown produce. To support the market's role as a culturally significant gathering space, project organizers purchased tables, chairs, a storage shed and cafe-style lights. They also procured materials to construct a horno -- a traditional outdoor oven made of adobe. Since then, the market has hosted free weekly musical performances and traditional cooking workshops, as well as the La Familia Growers Market Harvest Festival, attended by more than 500 people. In addition, project organizers conducted interviews with older community members - part of an oral history project.
Baltimore, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Residents in West Baltimore lacked safe, welcoming spaces for connection, and older adults had few opportunities to engage in programs that fostered social ties. The organization transformed a neglected alley into a vibrant gathering space by installing a large outdoor library with built-in lighting, a rooftop planter and benched seating. For the first time, residents can sit and participate in programs like Storytime at The Oasis. The project improved safety and sparked excitement for literacy programming-residents are donating books and volunteering for readings-and is expected to strengthen intergenerational relationships and boost property values.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Youngstown, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Boulevard Park Block Watch Residents lacked a nearby public space to rest and connect, leaving older adults isolated in a dense neighborhood. The group transformed two vacant lots into a pocket park with benches, porch swings, picnic tables and plantings, plus a solar-lit flagpole and ADA-compliant features. The park now offers a secure, walkable space for socializing and exercise. "Neighbors with mobility issues were seen daily walking the 260-foot cement pathway," organizers noted, highlighting its role in fostering connection close to home.
Alliance, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Addressing community health
Description: Alliance's food desert left older adults without nearby access to fresh groceries. StarkFresh opened a nonprofit store in an opportunity zone, creating local food access and jobs while offering SNAP produce discounts. The store's grand opening marked a permanent solution for residents who previously faced long walks to limited options. One customer shared, "This is perfect for my mother... she just has to walk across the street-it is very convenient for her."
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 Ohio State Office
17 S. High Street
Suite 800
Columbus, OH 43215
United States