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Village of Rye Brook (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Many older residents faced food insecurity as pre-made meals became costly and often spoiled, leaving those in low-income housing without reliable nutrition. The Village transformed an unused patio into a handicapped-accessible Giving Garden with raised beds and seating, enabling volunteers to grow fresh vegetables and herbs. Older adults now receive free produce and enjoy a welcoming space for meals and socializing. The garden also offers therapeutic benefits. One participant shared that she reminisced about gardening with her father as she worked in the new garden, and was already committed to working in the garden next spring.
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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Seaford, DE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Residents lacked a shared space to grow food and connect socially, and older adults faced barriers to gardening. The project added large beds for families, a wraparound bench for gathering and braille signage to make the garden accessible. Volunteers hosted monthly classes and provided shared tools, while soaker hoses ensured easier watering for older gardeners. These changes created a welcoming space where neighbors meet and older adults garden comfortably. A blind child exploring the Veterans Garden with braille signs showed how the project fosters inclusion and intergenerational connection.
Mobile, AL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Victory Teaching Farm in midtown Mobile is an urban teaching farm that aims to teach locals the benefits of growing their own food in a sustainable way. This project built a garden deck designed to be accessible for people with disabilities. The deck features a ramp for those who use wheelchairs, along with raised garden beds of various heights. Victory joined with AARP Alabama for a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December 2017, and a large group of adults with disabilities and special needs participated. Since then, Victory Teaching Garden continues to promote urban gardening for everyone with events. This included hosting a virtual What's Growing On advice session with AARP Alabama in March 2022.
Estes Park, CO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project made improvements to the Estes Valley Community Garden. The EVCG added six raised garden beds to make planting and harvesting comfortable for older gardeners and those with physical limitations. Project organizers also constructed a green waste storage box, which allows gardeners to toss their weeds rather than carry them home. Additionally, gardeners and visitors benefit from a new handwashing station, installed to increase safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project contributed to EVCG's ongoing efforts to donate plots and produce to a local food bank. Project organizers report the improvements attracted partners to the EVGC's new diversity initiative.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Stamford, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To make Fairgate Farm more accessible for people of all ages and abilities, project organizers extended an existing ADA-compliant crushed stone walkway leading from the farm's entrance to its market. They also made gathering at the farm more comfortable by installing picnic tables, benches, a bike rack and raised gardening beds. The urban garden and community gathering space on Stamford's West Side hosts programming for community members, from cooking demos to gardening workshops and cooking classes. Fairgate Farm attracts volunteers from across the community, who grow and distribute more than 5,000 pounds of organic fruits and vegetables each year. The produce is then donated to low-income volunteers, their families and local hunger relief charities.
Glen Cove, NY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Transportation Other
Description: This project will hold digital literacy workshops for older adults on using transit apps . Participants will apply their skills on transit-based learning trips and conduct transit audits to improve safety and accessibility.
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