Phoenix, AZ

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: A key Phoenix corridor lacked safe, walkable conditions, creating hazards for older adults who rely on it as a primary route. To address this, TigerMountain Foundation led a walk audit that identified broken sidewalks and poor crossings, engaged volunteers and added several hazards to the city's official repair list. The project educated residents on how to report issues and spurred interest among officials to prioritize fixes. TMF used the city's 311 system to escalate forgotten repairs, ensuring improvements move forward.

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

Choteau, MT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Older adults in Choteau often struggled to reach essential places because of uneven sidewalks, scarce curb cuts and hard-to-navigate intersections. City leaders often lacked data to address these daily obstacles. Walk audits invited residents to identify hazards and document heavily used intersections with the AARP Walk Audit Toolkit. Sharing results with the community sparked dialogue about challenges tied to reaching the post office, library and pharmacy. One participant described walking in the street during winter due to bad sidewalks, later saying she was grateful to have her experience recorded as part of a broader effort. The data is now informing planning discussions and future funding applications that aim to create safer routes and guide long-term improvements.

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

Houston, TX

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Fit Houston addressed safety and access gaps that made walking difficult for older adults in several neighborhoods connected to a bayou trail corridor. Residents had limited opportunities to share firsthand concerns about sidewalks, crossings and routes they rely on to reach parks and everyday destinations. Through four walk audits, Fit Houston walked alongside residents, documented hazards and accessibility barriers and identified priority corridors frequently used by older adults. The effort also built local partnerships and equipped the team with the skills to conduct future audits. Findings from the audits elevated resident voices in county planning discussions and are shaping follow-up conversations with planners about funding and next steps. In some areas, the work prompted advocacy where residents described long-standing frustrations with local utility responsiveness, grounding future infrastructure plans in lived experience rather than assumptions.

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