AARP Eye Center
Communities across Kansas are working each and every day to become more livable for residents of all ages.
In support of that work, AARP is excited to be able to provide funding to organizations through the AARP Community Challenge to help them jumpstart progress on ongoing work. These “quick action” grants are being distributed to 129 organizations, with at least one in every state, Washington D.C, and Puerto Rico, including right here in Kansas. The Community Challenge grants provide communities with the chance to fund innovative projects that can inspire change in areas such as transportation, open spaces, housing, and other innovative projects to improve the community and make our state's counties, cities, towns and rural areas better places to live for all Kansans.
The Community Challenge is part of AARP’s work on livable communities, which supports the efforts of neighborhoods, towns, cities and counties across the country to become great places for all residents. We believe that communities should provide safe, walkable streets; affordable and accessible housing and transportation options; access to needed services; and opportunities for residents to participate in community life.
After a successful 2017, with 90 grantees, including one in Wichita, this initiative is now in its 2nd year, and it has increased its investment to over $1.3 million in the form of 129 grants.
Here in Kansas, we are excited about the work that the Community Challenge Grants are supporting in 2018. Two projects were funded this year:
the City of Gardner pop-up demonstration of an ADA accessible, portable parklet as part of a larger process encouraging places for people, which is a key part of Gardner's downtown revitalization strategy; and
The Parks and Recreation Foundation of Johnson County's expansion of BikeWalkKC to purchase smart bikes and additional equipment to increase accessibility to bikes among county residents.
To learn more about the work being funded by the AARP Community Challenge grant program both here in Kansas as well as across the nation, visit us at aarp.org/CommunityChallenge. And to learn more about how AARP is working to make communities across Kansas and across the U.S. more livable for all residents, visit aarp.org/livable.
About AARP Kansas
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