Livable Communities

A new electric trishaw for a nonprofit in Iowa City, Iowa, a ride-on-demand program for older adults in Hutchinson, Minnesota, and digital literacy classes for residents in multiple Kentucky locales are among the projects funded by 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants.

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.

How much fun can be had on city streets with absolutely no cars? AARP Arizona is inviting Tucson residents to find out at Cyclovia Tucson, Sunday, Oct. 26, when 3 miles of streets will be closed to traffic from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nine entities in Georgia received 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants, ranging from $2,000 to $25,000 and totaling nearly $110,000. Projects focus on disaster preparedness, home safety, internet access and digital literacy.

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.

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.”