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Water Wise Gulf South (2019) Print
2019 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
Located within a food desert, the Upper 9th Ward of New Orleans has endured hurricanes and years of disinvestment. To give residents a gathering space, provide healthy food and create a respite from hot weather, Water Wise Gulf South and the Bunny Friend Neighborhood Association planned a new community orchard and vegetable garden. Volunteers cleared the site of debris and overgrowth. They then spread hardwood mulch in the orchard area and planted orange, lemon and persimmon trees. In the garden they built planter boxes and filled them with spinach, lettuce, mustard greens and passionflower vines. The site incorporates solar-powered charging stations a pavilion to provide shade and green infrastructure to manage stormwater runoff. Organizers hope the orchard and garden will allow for neighborhood events, access to fresh food and opportunities to educate locals about stormwater management and food production.
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See More Projects Like This One
Woodbridge, VA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: To create a vibrant public space at the Woodbridge Senior Center, Keep Prince William Beautiful created a vegetable garden onsite. Organizers worked to repair raised beds -- designed to be accessible for gardeners of all ages and abilities -- and fill them with vegetable plants. Additionally, they installed a seating area at the Center's front entrance. All plants grown in the space are native to Northern Virginia and include pollinator-friendly species. The Center plans to cook with vegetables from the garden and organizers hope the improvements give older adults a beautiful outdoor gathering space.
Sheridan, WY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Heritage Towers set out to give older adults a place to grow fresh food and spend time outside, addressing the lack of accessible spaces for residents with limited income and mobility. The team built raised beds, added sturdy outdoor seating and organized planting events that helped tenants grow vegetables, herbs and flowers. The harvest supported shared meals that brought people together and encouraged more time on the patio. Tenants said the garden reminded them of growing food when they were younger, and many began volunteering to start seeds for next year. The project prompted more outdoor activity, strengthened social ties and laid the groundwork for a lasting source of fresh produce and connection for residents.
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
Pittsburgh, PA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Grounded Strategies transformed a vacant lot in Pittsburgh's Central Hill District into a community garden. The organization relied on what is calls its ReClaim Ambassador model, which connects experts with vulnerable communities to repurpose vacant land and revitalize neighborhoods. To create the Peace, Love and Friendship Garden, the ambassador for this project worked with corporate donors, volunteers and nonprofit partners. Meant to offset the closure of a local grocery store, the garden features 72 raised beds where residents can grow vegetables. Grounded Strategies is now working with partner organization Grow Pittsburgh to create programming for the space.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
New Orleans, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Lifelong housing and accessibility
Description: In New Orleans' Central City, soaring rents and a 20,000-person voucher waitlist left older adults facing unsafe housing. Bethlehem built a 2-bedroom ADA-accessible home with a wheelchair lift, partnering with Tulane architecture students for design and labor. The project drew more than 100 neighbors to a blessing event and mobilized 500 donors. It also prompted a zoning change allowing affordable housing in 3- and 4-plexes citywide and inspired plans for three more units. One visitor said, "He broke down crying... and told me his father had lived in affordable housing that was unsafe."
Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.
New Orleans, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Trails
Description: Construction of an ADA-accessible footbridge and walking path connected a community FitLot to the Lafitte Greenway, an active rails-to-trails pedestrian path. Before, people had to jump across a muddy stretch of grass to reach the fitness park from the greenway. Since the City of New Orleans suffers from one of the largest health disparity gaps in the nation, project organizers also set up a no-cost fitness program taught by professional trainers. The classes attract local older adults. "Every time I'm here they are very happy and motivated," trainer Natoya Wayne said. "They interact with each other and encourage each other during the session, and that motivates me."
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