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YMCA of Middle Tennessee (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Digital Connections
└ Digital navigation skills
└ Digital navigation skills
Older adults in North Nashville faced digital barriers that limited access to health care, financial tools and social connection. The YMCA launched a Digital Connectivity Pilot with 23 computer lab sessions staffed by local HBCU students. It also hosted three Lunch and Learn workshops on telehealth, estate planning and financial literacy. These efforts helped participants gain confidence using technology. One member said the program's telehealth training made them less scared to seek care remotely. Others learned to prevent scams and manage retirement accounts. The YMCA plans to expand this model across its six-county service area.
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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San Antonio, TX
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Digital navigation skills
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San Francisco, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Digital navigation skills
Description: Many older adults in San Francisco struggled with technology-not because they lacked devices, but because they lacked help. To meet that need, SF Tech Council organized five multilingual "Tech Support Popups" that offered free one-on-one assistance in neighborhoods like Chinatown and the Tenderloin. Nearly 100 volunteers helped more than 200 residents update devices, remove viruses and sign up for affordable internet programs. The events built digital confidence and community connections, inspiring agencies to explore permanent tech help services. One Cantonese-speaking participant said she finally felt "heard" while learning to use her phone to stay in touch with her children.
Bend, OR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Digital navigation skills
Description: Older adults in Central Oregon faced a widening digital divide, leaving them unable to access health care or manage daily tasks. The Computer Literacy Program offered classes and tutoring across multiple locations, enrolling 96 participants, more than half of whom were age 50-plus. It taught skills from device basics to advanced applications. Volunteers, all older adults, created a peer-learning environment that built confidence and independence. One instructor noted, "They have all become very good friends and enjoy taking the classes together," showing how the program strengthened community ties.
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Nashville, TN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Bringing resident insight and volunteer power into local government
Description: Older residents often want a voice in neighborhood decisions but lack confidence and leadership skills. To bridge this gap, Neighbor 2 Neighbor launched "Ignite Your Neighborhood Passion," hosting five lunch-and-learn sessions led by veteran neighborhood leaders. Participants identified local assets, explored leadership roles and connected with peers. The program sparked commitments to volunteer and inspired community centers to request more sessions. "It is so refreshing to know there is an organization that wants to teach neighborhoods how to come together and get things done," said one attendee, underscoring its impact on civic engagement.
Nashville, TN
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Roadway/sidewalks/crosswalk improvement
Description: The Nashville Civic Center Design Center hosted the Nashville Neighborhoods Celebration at the intersection of 11th and Arthur Avenues. To showcase possibilities for public space there, organizers set up seating, street games and art installations. The gathering featured dance performances, food vendors and live music. Organizers wanted to ensure intersection upgrades aligned with Nashville's Walkike Master Plan. So they installed temporary streetscaping features, including vertical barriers to protect pedestrians crossing the street, signs to alert drivers to crosswalks, sensor lights and reflectors to increase visibility at night and bike lanes separated from traffic by planter boxes. At the event, residents had the opportunity to share their feedback on the improvements. Based on the pop-up efforts, the City permanently redesigned 11th street in 2019, adding a new bike lane. And since then, additional pop-up bike lane projects have informed permanent changes to downtown.
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