AARP Vermont has announced that five organizations around the state will receive 2022 Community Challenge grants totaling more than $54,000. The grants are part of the largest group of grantees to date with $3.4 million awarded among 260 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement quick-action projects that help communities become more livable in the long-term by improving public places; transportation; housing; diversity, equity and inclusion; digital access; and civic engagement, with an emphasis on the needs of adults aged 50 and over.
“AARP Vermont is committed to working with communities to improve residents’ quality of life through tangible changes,” said Greg Marchildon, AARP Vermont state director. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements in their communities to jumpstart long-term change, especially for Vermonters 50 and over.”
The Vermont projects funded include:
Cathedral Square – Cathedral Square’s pedestrian safety improvement project installs a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon at a village center crosswalk near Kelley’s Field, an affordable housing community for older adults in Hinesburg, Vermont.
City of Montpelier Parks and Trees Dept. – This project will create a pop-up farm stand to distribute affordable produce grown at the city’s farm to primarily older residents. It will also transform the front of the senior center into a weekly outdoor gathering space, with shade and music.
Greensboro Nursing Home – This trail will provide access to the outdoors for residents, an important tool to therapists to work with gait training for short-term rehabilitation patients, and provide a safe walking environment for members of the larger community.
North Hero Public Library – Installation of a word garden with adjacent seating to compliment raised bed gardens as a focus for community connections.
South Royalton Underpass Art Project – Re-imagining an un-walkable, ugly underpass with lighting, art, and a marked sidewalk this project will provide a safe, beautiful, and pedestrian-friendly point of access for all community members including older residents.
AARP Community Challenge grant projects will be funded in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. True to the program’s quick-action nature, projects must be completed by November 30, 2022.
View the full list of grantees and their project descriptions and learn more about AARP’s livable communities work at aarp.org/livable.
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