Greendale, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Improved wayfinding

Description: After gathering feedback from focus groups with residents, the Greendale Health Department installed directional signs and benches along the village's walking trails. A number of local organizations participated, including the Girls Scouts and students from the local school district. With help from the Greendale Women's Club, they also created and distributed maps of the trails. Project organizers say the effort allowed for community engagement and the new benches, signs and map help residents and visitors better utilize the community's trails.

Milwaukee, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Walk Audits

Description: Jackson Park Community Association focused on unsafe streets surrounding a major neighborhood park where fast traffic and unclear crossings made walking stressful for residents, including older adults. Through a series of walk audits, residents, volunteers and local officials documented specific hazards and discussed solutions at key intersections. Findings were shared through community meetings and presentations to city leaders, grounding the conversation in lived experience. Volunteer feedback highlighted anxiety at crossings and concerns about speeding vehicles. The work helped inform reconstruction discussions and contributed to funding being allocated for future intersection improvements that support safer park access.

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