AARP Vermont Announces 2025 Winter Placemaking Grant Recipients

AARP Vermont has awarded Winter Placemaking Grants to eight organizations across the state to support creative, inclusive programming that fosters community connection and combats social isolation among older adults during the coldest months of the year.

This year’s recipients include:

• Adamant Community Club (Washington County) – $2,980Hosting “Winter Sundays,” a series of eight gatherings featuring films, author readings, public affairs discussions, nature walks, and folk music concerts.
• Broad Brook Community Center (Windham County) – $3,150Expanding weekly coffee hours, adding free exercise classes, storytelling evenings, and intergenerational game nights.
• Franklin Arts Department (Franklin County) – $1,200Presenting six music performances in a repurposed community space to promote arts access and intergenerational engagement.
• Middletown Springs Public Library (Rutland County) - $4,000Launching “Winter Sparks,” a program offering storytelling, mandala painting, memoir writing, guided walks, and a winter chorus.
• Morristown Centennial Library (Lamoille County) – $2,070Expanding its Aging Together Program with weekly community meals and inclusive winter activities.
• Rockingham Public Library (Windham County) – $4,000Activating indoor and outdoor spaces with snowshoeing, birding, yoga, crafts, and cooking classes.
• Town of West Rutland (Rutland County) – $2,500Hosting a downtown Ice Carving Event featuring professional sculptors and accessible public art.
• Montpelier Alive (Washington County) – $4,000Organizing Winterfest with horse-drawn carriage rides and live ice carving to enliven downtown and engage older adults.

“These grants help communities across Vermont create welcoming spaces and meaningful experiences for older adults during the winter,” said Kelly Stoddard-Poor, Associate State Director of Outreach at AARP Vermont.

The Winter Placemaking Grant program is part of AARP Vermont’s broader effort to support age-friendly communities and ensure that public spaces are accessible, engaging, and inclusive for people of all ages. Since 2020, AARP Vermont has awarded nearly $140,000 to 32 projects through the Winter Placemaking grant program for communities across the state.

AARP Vermont Accepting 2025 Winter Placemaking Grant Applications

The annual program aims to make communities in Vermont more livable for people of all ages

AARP Vermont Livable Community Hub

Approximately 45 million Americans are age 65 or older. By 2030, that number will reach 73 million Americans. At that point, fully one in five Americans will be older than 65. By 2034, the United States will — for the first time ever — be a country comprised of more older adults than of children. AARP Livable Communities supports the efforts of neighborhoods, towns, cities and rural areas to be great places for people of all ages. We believe that communities should provide safe, walkable streets; age-friendly housing and transportation options; access to needed services; and opportunities for residents of all ages to participate in community life.