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Urban Harvest STL (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
North St. Louis faces severe food insecurity, leaving older adults with limited access to fresh produce and safe outdoor spaces. Urban Harvest STL grew over 1,000 pounds of food at Fresh Starts Garden, donating most to programs serving older adults. The team installed accessible raised beds and picnic tables and repaired a generator to help power tools, making gardening easier for those with mobility challenges. Volunteers and apprentices age 50-plus joined in, and the season ended with a celebration of 100 community members. The garden manager said, "Gardening is very rewarding... The garden benefits the whole community because they get to see something positive going on."
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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Newark, NJ
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Newark's Central Ward struggles with food insecurity, leaving older adults and families without access to fresh produce. To address this, the organization expanded a school-based garden at Louise A. Spencer Elementary, adding beds designed for older adults and providing adaptive tools. Residents now maintain the garden during summer, ensuring sustainability and fostering intergenerational ties. One student said gardening with his grandmother "reminds him of his dad and helps him feel close to his culture."
Opa-locka, FL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: For Opa-Locka residents, the closest supermarket is more than a mile away, making fresh produce in this low-income community hard to come by. The Opa-Locka Community Development Corporation conducted an extensive community engagement process to determine what kinds of fresh produce the community needed most. They then responded by planting 14 fruit trees -- as well as herbs -- in the common area of a multifamily residential development. The CDC also installed lighting, benches and other amenities in the space, allowing residents to gather there.
Boston, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will improve accessibility for older adults by widening and leveling paths, adding solar lighting, and providing internet access. These upgrades will enhance safety and support community meetings.
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St. Louis, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: STL Village partnered with volunteers from the community to restore the Lewis Place Community Garden, which had gone unplanted during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers cleared the site of overgrowth, refurbished garden beds, installed a storage shed and planted and watered vegetables, shrubs and trees. Neighborhood residents formed a garden committee charged with maintaining the site going forward. STL Village also created a resource guide for local older adults with a specific focus on services for low-income families.
St. Louis, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Residents lacked nearby spaces for relaxation and wellness, forcing older adults to travel for peaceful outdoor areas. The project added two tranquil spaces to Bustani Ya Upenda garden: a wooden arbor with benches and a zen area with a solar fountain, lighting and sculpture. Volunteers, including older adults, helped build the spaces, which now offer calm and connection. A neighborhood leader didn't use to visit, but now visits often, saying he is impressed by the beauty created with older adults in mind.
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