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Vermont River Conservancy (2023) Print
2023 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Civic Engagement
└ Developing projects based on residents' priorities
└ Developing projects based on residents' priorities
This project will organize walk-and-talks and indoor workshops led by community members aged 50 to inform residents about the construction of a riverside park and get them engaged in shaping its future development.
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See More Projects Like This One
Burlington, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Developing projects based on residents' priorities
Description: Because many local news sources struggle to stay afloat, educators at the University of Vermont launched an initiative to provide content to local papers and statewide news outlets. The Community News Service hired student journalists from around the state to produce stories on topics related to livable communities, including local investments in parks and public spaces, transportation connectivity and sidewalk expansions. Newspapers could then print those stories for free. The students gained hands-on reporting experience and also took photographs and created videos and podcasts. In addition, CNS organized reporting blitzes, assigning reporters to cover events such as elections, town meetings and a local Green-Up Day. Project organizers say they hope the local coverage helps residents stay informed and become engaged in their local community.
ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Developing projects based on residents' priorities
Description: This project staged theatrical performances about challenges experienced by older adults at venues across central Maine.
Boston, MA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Developing projects based on residents' priorities
Description: The Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, which serves residents in Boston's low-income Roxbury and North Dorchester neighborhoods, created virtual spaces for intergenerational dialogue on community issues. To do this, the organization hosted a series of workshops, forums and support groups where residents could see one another and share their experiences. Because the area is home to many Cape Verdean and Latino families, DSNI provided interpretation services. They also provided technical support to those who needed it. One highlight was an in-person listening session held at one of Roxbury's last remaining vacant lots, where DSNI recorded residents talking about their needs and concerns. The organization has since added other virtual programming, including a monthly book club.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Brattleboro, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Residents considered the Brattleboro Transportation Center's parking garage to be ugly and uninviting. To change this, the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance worked with local artists to create signage for each level of the garage. The new signs feature a different animal for each level, with each creature -- the osprey, river otter, American shad and sea lamprey -- significant to the Abenaki indigenous community and the Connecticut River ecosystem. Additionally, the Alliance held a pop-up event in the garage's elevator to display the prototype for a new Ask the River kinetic sculpture. Visitors to the garage could view the sculpture and give their feedback. Today, the full-size version of the artwork decorates the facade of the Transportation Center building.
Keene, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions
Description: This project will launch an accessory dwelling unit design competition focused on older adults' housing needs. The competition asks participants to consider specific locations in the community.
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