Making Communities Livable: Age-Friendly Oregon Grants

Communities across Oregon are all 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 Oregon is pleased to announce the AARP Oregon Age-Friendly Communities Grants*, with five grantees being awarded from across the state. These grants fund innovative projects that inspire change in transportation, public spaces, diversity and inclusion, civic engagement, and more.

Across the state, these exciting and diverse projects were funded:

• Cascadia Action, $4,950 – activates “Breath of Life: Engaging and Mobilizing Diverse Communities for Clean Air” and will engage BIPOC social, church, cultural, and volunteer groups rooted in North and East Portland.
  
• City of Medford Planning Department, $5,000 - aims to evaluate, test, and implement “pop-up” traffic calming projects along Pine and Maple Streets within the Liberty Park neighborhood in collaboration with local residents, organizations, and businesses.
  
• EngAGE NW, $1,750 – will create an outdoor area for residents at Cascadian Terrace that is accessible and connects across generations, race, and ethnicity. Additionally, this project will be a welcoming and healthy presence that is age-friendly, sustainable, and supports health and wellness.
  
• Friends of Center 50+, $5,000 - will activate an identified Salem neighborhood’s green/open space to create a trusted and familiar gathering place, which the neighborhood does not currently have. A series of conversations that invite seniors and neighbors will be held to assess specific needs to identify a community service project that results in physical improvements.
  
• Opal Environmental Justice, $7,000 - will launch the Lift Every Voice Transportation Storytelling Project in Portland to collect stories highlighting the needs from Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, women, people with disabilities, youth, older adults, and people living on a lower income in the greater Portland region. These stories will be mapped and share with decision-makers in podcasts and social media.

*Grantees were chosen from applicants for the national AARP Community Challenge Grant. Although the grantees were not selected to be awarded nationally, AARP Oregon funded these important projects. Learn more about the 2021 Oregon challenge grantees here.