Attleboro, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Supporting family caregivers

Description: This project will provide free care to older adults with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's and other related dementias so their caregivers can exercise at the YMCA with the assurance that their loved ones are safe.

Beverly, MA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Community Gardens

Description: The Blooming in Beverly project installed raised garden beds in older adults' front yards. Beverly Main Streets matched 50 older adults with families with young children, who built and delivered the beds, then planted flowers and vegetables in them. Project organizers hoped to foster intergenerational relationships, helping combat social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative allowed young children to make a new friend as they helped with weekly watering. Older adult participants reported they were grateful to be around children, since many had not seen their own grandchildren since the pandemic began. The intergenerational pairings also allowed older adults to reap the benefits of gardening while avoiding hard, physical exertion.