Seven Granite State Organizations Receive AARP Community Challenge Grant Funding

Communities across New Hampshire are working to become more livable for residents of all ages.

AARP is working in partnership with local leaders, organizations and dedicated residents to help make that vision a reality. As part of that effort, AARP is excited to announce the largest investment of grant dollars to date through the Community Challenge grant program. More than $3.6 million in quick-action grants are being distributed to 310 organizations across all 50 states, Washington D.C, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The AARP Community Challenge funds innovative projects that inspire change in areas such as public places; housing; transportation; diversity, equity, and inclusion; digital connections; community resilience; and more.

AARP New Hampshire is incredibly proud to have seven grantees! Our goal is to support their efforts to create great places for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities. As local leaders seek to better their communities for the future, this becomes even more critical.

Here in New Hampshire, we are thrilled to fund these exciting and diverse projects:

Gather NH - This project will create a community garden with raised garden beds and vertical gardens to enable older residents of local senior housing communities to grow their own food.

Town of Hopkinton - This project will conduct three walk audits to identify potential locations for sidewalk and crosswalk improvements, while bringing awareness to the social and health benefits of walkability.

Claremont Opera House - The Claremont Opera House will upgrade its obsolete assisted listening devices so that patrons with hearing challenges can fully appreciate the music, theater, movie and lecture events on stage.

Gibson Center For Senior Services - This grant will support the Safe and Smart Home Expo, which will include a Smart Home on Wheels that will demonstrate technology that can enable older people to age in place safely and in comfort.

Littleton Community House - This project will provide audiovisual technology and support to community groups meeting at the Littleton Community Center, allowing transportation-disadvantaged persons to remotely attend events.

Town of Wilton - The project will create a shaded, accessible gazebo situated at a location where older residents can observe wildlife and catalog what they see for a natural resources inventory.

Tri-Town Bicycle - This project will develop large-print maps of cycling trails, safe road riding routes and supporting infrastructure, designed specifically for use by cyclists aged 50-plus.

The Community Challenge is part of AARP’s nationwide 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.

To learn more about the work being funded by the AARP Community Challenge both here in New Hampshire as well as across the nation, visit aarp.org/CommunityChallenge. You can also view an interactive map of all of the Community Challenge projects and AARP New Hampshire’s livable communities work at aarp.org/livable.