Grants Fund Improvements in Indiana Communities

Mongo, a community of about 125 residents in northeast Indiana, has a pedestrian-safety problem.

Many of its streets are narrow and lack sidewalks or even a curb. Pedestrians—many of the town’s residents are older than 50—must sometimes walk on uneven grass or contend with passing cars.

The streets are not passable, says Rhonda Bartlett, board vice president for the Mongo Community Development Association, a volunteer organization.

It will soon be easier and safer to walk around the area, thanks to a $2,500 AARP Community Challenge grant that is funding new sidewalks as part of an ongoing local project. The new pathways will help older residents get out more and exercise, Bartlett says.

The Mongo group is one of seven Indiana entities to receive 2023 AARP Community Challenge grants—totaling more than $45,000. Part of AARP’s Livable Communities initiative, the grants fund quick-turnaround projects aimed at making areas more livable for residents of all ages.

Many of the 80 applications that AARP Indiana received focused on improving public spaces, making transportation easier to access and creating public art, says Addison Pollock, director of community engagement. Projects must be completed by Nov. 30.

Connecting communities

In the western part of the state, a nonprofit is using its $10,000 grant to build a quarter-mile walkway around the Heritage Block in downtown Jasonville.

The block is home to the town’s Heritage Museum, a community garden and an activity center for older residents who make up a sizable part of the population, says Morgan Sparks, president of GROW Jasonville, which received the funding.

The walkway will include signs, lights, a painted crosswalk with a garden theme and benches that are compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

It “will give us a new place to exercise and maybe take a break and visit with other people,” says Martha Griffith, 69, a retired school-bus driver and lifelong Jasonville resident.

The other projects are:

• The South Madison Community Foundation is building a small park in downtown Pendleton that will include flexible seating (benches that convert to tables) and sunshades where local private school students will host weekly structured conversations with residents age 50-plus.
  
• The nonprofit Fort Wayne Trails, which develops trails in Allen County, is improving public access to 2 acres of native prairie land, a pond and walking paths on the grounds of Still-water Hospice.
  
• RSVP Volunteer Center in the city of Washington is using its grant to expand a bike program to include tricycles for older adults. The trikes will come with helmets, lights, baskets, flags, locks and safety education materials to help older riders and adults with disabilities exercise and get around town.
  
• Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve in Evansville is creating an accessible trail through the more than 200 acres of urban old-growth forest it helps protect.
  
• Still Waters Adult Day Center, an Indianapolis facility predominantly for people 55 and older who need supervised care, is using its AARP funding to revive a flower, herb and vegetable garden. The project includes fencing the garden and building 10 raised beds to allow wheelchair access.

AARP awarded $3.6 million in grants nationwide this year. To learn more, go to aarp.org/communitychallenge.

Lisa Bertagnoli is a writer living in Chicago.

More on Livable Communities

• About the AARP Community Challenge
• 2023 AARP Community Challenge Demonstration Grantees
• How Livable Is Your Community? Explore the AARP Livability Index