Just Released
Six Iowa Communities Receive 2024 AARP Community Challenge Grants
7/17/2024Des Moines, IA – Six organizations throughout Iowa will receive 2024 AARP Community Challenge grants – part of AARP’s largest investment in communities to date with $3.8 million awarded among 343 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement quick-action projects that help communities become more livable by improving public places; transportation; housing; digital connections; and more, with an emphasis on the needs of adults ages 50 and older.
“AARP Iowa is committed to working with local leaders, advocates and policymakers to make our communities better places to live for Iowans of all ages, especially those 50 and older,” said AARP Iowa State Director Brad Anderson. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements to address long-standing and emerging challenges across our communities.”
Here in Iowa, projects funded include:
- Bondurant: City of Bondurant ($20,000) – This project will create a garden and trail featuring five works of art displayed along Lake Petocka’s shoreline. The city will also construct a new kayak launch and install seating and lighting onsite.
- Dubuque: Four Mounds Foundation HEART Partnership ($15,000) – Local students will complete home modifications for low-income older adults, allowing them to age in place. The effort will also offer on-the-job training, mentorship and life-planning assistance for participating students.
- Monticello: Monticello Public Library ($15,000) – The library will purchase a mobile kitchen to host health and nutrition classes. Programming for adults will focus on making healthy, budget-conscious food choices while classes for children and teens will cover cooking and kitchen basics.
- Walcott: City of Walcott ($12,000) – The city will revitalize one tennis court with new asphalt and paint and convert a second court into pickleball courts.
- Des Moines: The Avenues of Ingersoll and Grand ($7,500) – This project will install signage in front of local businesses alerting drivers to look out for cyclists and pedestrians using the roadway.
- Iowa City: Plan + Place with Morningside Glendale Neighborhood Association ($2,500) – Two sets of walk audits will bring together older adults, students and local stakeholders. The first will identify safety challenges along corridors connecting a high school and senior center. The second will identify placemaking opportunities to enhance walkability and highlight the history of multimodal transportation in the Morningside-Glendale neighborhood.
The grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages, with an emphasis on people ages 50 and older. Since 2017, AARP Iowa has awarded 35 grants and over $380,000 through the program to nonprofit organizations and government entities across the state.
View the full list of grantees and their project descriptions at aarp.org/communitychallenge and learn more about AARP’s livable communities work at aarp.org/livable.
