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As 2025 draws to a close, it’s clear that it was a pivotal time for older adults and their families in Washington, D.C. Across the District, advocates, caregivers, and community leaders rallied to protect the dignity, health, and financial security of seniors—facing both longstanding challenges and new opportunities for progress.
In Washington, D.C., many older Black residents continue to face serious challenges when it comes to accessing quality health care. While recent studies from AARP show signs of progress, they also reveal that deep disparities remain—especially for those living east of the Anacostia River.
Bridging the Justice Gap for Vulnerable Washington, D.C. Elders
A dozen organizations or localities received 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants, totaling $126,300. The money is funding a variety of projects from upgrades to a Sacramento community garden, to workshops for low-to-moderate-income Los Angeles homeowners on how to develop rental units, to an initiative aimed at making San Francisco's streets and sidewalks safer and easier to navigate.
Sedgwick County and the city of Thornton are the newest Colorado members of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. They join 20 other Colorado counties or localities that are also members, including places like Carbondale. The city’s age-friendly efforts have included repairing sidewalks and placing benches around the city to provide rest stops for walkers.
Learn about planning your financial future by joining a free, in-person forum this fall in New York City.
AARP West Virginia and a coalition of other organizations — including anti-hunger advocates, farmers and businesses — successfully advocated this year for an additional $360,000 in the state budget to help older adults facing food insecurity.
Communities in South Dakota, Wyoming and Oklahoma are making improvements — including an outdoor classroom, new technology for veterans and home modifications for Native American elders — thanks to 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants.
Four Delaware nonprofits received 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants totaling $37,500 to help fund quick-turnaround projects aimed at making communities more livable.
Nine Illinois entities received a total of more than $90,000 in AARP Community Challenge grants in 2025. Projects include home repairs for older residents in Chicago, new outdoor seating in the village of Erie, disaster preparedness training in Skokie and digital literacy workshops in Evanston.
AARP is working to educate caregivers about the state’s paid family medical leave program, which has been increasing by double-digit percentages each year since 2021. It is also pushing for a comprehensive caregiver bill that would create a tax credit for family caregivers, expand respite care vouchers for middle-income families and ensure that people who leave jobs to care for family members can collect unemployment.
Eleven North Carolina entities received 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants for projects focused on either bike or pedestrian safety. They include Bike Durham, which is using its $15,000 grant to support an Oct. 5 event that will close a 1.2-mile stretch of downtown Durham’s streets to vehicles.
Gov. Mike DeWine has thrown his full support behind an initiative for Ohio to become the 13th state member of the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities. DeWine told the Bulletin that he wants people to think of Ohio as “the best place to grow old in the nation.”
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That’s why AARP brings neighbors together to join in on free activities and events, right where you live.
Get to know the local side of AARP, and click on a free event that clicks with you.
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