Talent, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Entrepreneurship and improved economic resilience

Description: Through a series of intergenerational workshops, Talent Maker City invited residents of all ages to learn STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) skills, such as carpentry, 3D printing and screen printing. Workshop activities included screen printing shirts for a garden club fundraiser, building bat houses and making pollinator watering dishes. The pollinator theme reflected Talent's designation as a Bee City USA and local interest in pollinator gardens. Although COVID-19 restrictions curtailed the program's full impact, the city's maker space established a partnership with the Talent Garden Club. Future plans include programming to promote Talent as an age-friendly city.

Medford, OR

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Accessory dwelling units, tiny homes and manufactured housing

Description: Medford faced a shortage of accessible, affordable housing as most new units were detached single-family homes despite Oregon's middle housing law. To change this, the city produced permit-ready plans for duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes with accessible features, coordinated with LifeLong Housing standards. Designed for single-family lots in walkable neighborhoods, these plans cut costs and simplify permitting. They aim to expand housing choices for older adults to age in place and foster multi-generational living, while also prompting conversations about state code updates to ease future development.