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Chula Vista, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: The City of Chula Vista wanted to increase older adults' familiarity with public transit options. Partnering with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, they held Travel Training 101 courses with more than forty older residents. Instructors provided trainees with information on how to read transit schedules, plan trips and purchase fares. Then they held field trips, using transit to visit a community festival and the Norman Park Senior Center. Additionally, participants received a 30-day senior transit pass. Following the training, participants said they felt more comfortable using transit, with 83 percent planning to renew their passes. One said she realized that the 20-minute bus ride between their home and the Senior Center saved her 62 a month. Previously she paid 40 round trip by taxi at least twice monthly.
Washington, DC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: While Washington, D.C. has a robust public transit system, rider amenities are not consistent throughout the city and the Pennsylvania Avenue East Corridor is particularly underserved. The city's Office of Planning hoped to use creative placemaking techniques to make waiting for the bus safer and more comfortable. Project organizers worked with local artists to design and build an Imagination Bench, which they placed on a well-used bus route. The bench has solar-powered illumination and a QR code on its side directs viewers to information about the bench and local planning efforts. Originally installed near Fort Dupont Park, planning staff intend to feature the brightly colored bench at the city's farmers markets, pop-up shops and other community events.
Elsa, TX
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public or private transit access
Description: People using the local bus service in Elsa had no designated bus stop facilities. To catch a bus, residents could stand on the side the highway and wave -- an unsafe situation on the area's busy roads. To make waiting for public transit safer and more comfortable, the City set out to add bus shelters along State Highway 107.
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Washington County, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Community Health and Economic Empowerment
Description: To help homebound older adults engage in the visual arts, the Central Vermont Council on Aging delivered creative care kits to residents of Washington, Orange and Lamoille counties. The kits contained art supplies and instructions. For example, one included paper, watercolor paints and a guide to making color choices. Volunteers also checked in on kit recipients, with many participants joining video calls to share their creative work. In 2022, the Council on Aging launched a second year of the initiative, and provided tablets, internet access and tech support to older adults taking part. The program's popularity led to partnerships with the Vermont Arts Council and Meals on Wheels to provide kits to more people.
Northfield, VT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: Northfield Common Connections wanted to start a community dialogue about local walkability and pedestrian infrastructure. The organization set out to evaluate the pedestrian environment in Northfield. First, Northfield Common Connections conduced a walk audit. Volunteers traveled by foot through town and evaluated streetscape features that made walking easy or difficult. Additionally, the organization also conducted a survey of pedestrian activity, observing how passersby navigated the street. As a result of their evaluation, organizers decided to paint a walk-bike lane through town. To shield path users from vehicle traffic, volunteers installed delineators along the route. Playful wayfinding signage helps residents navigate the path and organizers added benches to give people a resting place. Organizers say the effort was especially important since the path serves a neighborhood that suffered economic impacts after a hurricane, connecting residents with needed amenities downtown.
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