Grant Projects Help Boost Livability

In rural southeastern South Dakota, the neighboring small towns of Gayville and Volin are getting a big boost: a new outdoor classroom for students that will double as a gathering spot for the area’s roughly 540 residents.

The structure will be located on Gayville-Volin School District property and have a roof and possibly roll-up doors. It will offer students a change of scenery and chance to interact with nature.

“We’re all stuck inside so often on our computers,” says Rebecca Lohse, a local middle school science teacher. “Sometimes it’s nice to take them to a place where there’s no electronics and just learn outside.”

The classroom, which will also serve as a meeting spot for civic groups like the local American Legion post, is being partially funded by a 2025 AARP Community Challenge grant of $15,000. Nationwide, AARP awarded $4.2 million in Community Challenge grants this year to 383 applicants.

The grant program funds local projects for improvements in housing, transportation, public spaces and other areas that help boost quality of life for residents of all ages. In South Dakota, AARP awarded eight grants, totaling nearly $100,000.

In Gayville, the AARP grant won’t cover the entire cost, but it’s critical in making the project a reality, says Alison Larson, a community volunteer with the rural development group PorchLight. She notes: “It was taking us a while to fundraise.”

HELPING VETS IN WYOMING

Other AARP Community Challenge grants this year focus on services for older adults.

In Cheyenne, Wyoming, a $10,000 grant to the nonprofit Community Action of Laramie County Inc. will pay for updated computers and internet access at its transitional veterans housing site. The grant was one of five in Wyoming this year, totaling $31,000.

Eric Walsh, Community Action’s director of social services, says that the nonprofit offers wraparound services for veterans at risk of homelessness. It has transitional housing for eight men and two women. The donated technology that residents have used in the past has been old and slow.

The AARP grant will pay for upgraded tech and internet access that will help veterans look for jobs and housing and allow them to conduct telehealth visits. Many clients do have smartphones, but small screens are hard for them to use, Walsh notes.

“Computers really help with the generation we’re serving right now,” in the 55 and over group, he says. “We sit there with them and help them through.”

FIXING HOMES IN OKLAHOMA

In Oklahoma, another AARP grant will allow the Absentee Shawnee Housing Authority to retrofit the bathrooms in some Native American elders’ homes with safety equipment. It’s one of eight grants awarded in Oklahoma, totaling $97,500.

“The bathroom is probably the most dangerous spot in the house to slip and fall,” says Sherry Drywater, the housing authority’s executive director. “Any extra resource we can get is always helpful.”

The authority, which serves tribal members in a four-county area in central Oklahoma, will use its $2,500 grant to pay for improvements, such as grab bars, shower chairs and bathtub rails, in the homes of up to 20 elders.

Go to aarp.org/communitychallenge to learn more.