Four Wyoming Organizations Earn Community Challenge Grants From AARP

Non-profit organizations in Clearmont, Thermopolis, and Sheridan scored a total of four Community Challenge Grants totaling $31,000, AARP announced today.

The grants are part of AARP’s $4.2 million commitment to fund 383 quick-action projects aimed at making communities more livable for people of all ages, with a focus on the needs of older adults. The funds will support efforts to improve public places, transportation, housing, digital connections, and other key areas. Notably, 45% of this year’s funded projects are in rural communities, with nearly $2 million that will support 175 projects, marking AARP’s largest investment in rural grantmaking to date.

“AARP Wyoming is proud to work with communities across the state to help make them more livable for people of all ages,” said AARP Wyoming State Director Sam Shumway. “These projects are about turning great local ideas into real improvements that make everyday life better, especially for older Wyomingites.”

Wyoming’s 2025 Community Challenge Recipients 
Clearmont Historical Group has been selected to receive a Flagship Grant of $7,500 through the 2025 AARP Community Challenge grant program. The town of Clearmont sits on the road to Yellowstone National Park and its population is listed as 123, but thanks to the work of the Clearmont Historical Group, the Clearmont Historical Center consistently punches above its weight, with its exhibits on dinosaurs, pioneers, and cowboy life. AARP’s Community Grant funding will be used to add sidewalks to the 110 year-old Historical Center, which has previously served as the town’s post office, and mercantile. The sidewalks will replace a dirt entry path to the facility. Further sidewalk development will link the museum to Branding Iron Park. The Center will also replace its decking and add wheelchair accessibility to the facility.

“The grant funding and projects will give us better access for seniors and the general public for our programs and community events,” said Robert Prusak, President of the Clearmont Historical Group. “It will allow us to link up with the park and allow us to have larger events if we can move activities to the park. It just makes it easier to get around. Right now, that side of the building is dirt and mud.”

The Hot Springs Senior Center in Thermopolis is the first Wyoming-based applicant to win two Community Challenge Grants. With the first grant, Hot Springs Senior Center will establish a transportation assistance program for older adults in Thermopolis and the area with the $6,500 grant it receives from AARP. The funding will offer financial aid for ride passes, vouchers, or volunteer driver reimbursements ensuring older adults can access essential services and live independently.

“By alleviating the financial burden of transportation, this program will empower seniors to maintain their independence, access necessary services, improve their health outcomes, reduce social isolation, and lessen financial worry,” said Trenda Moore, director of the Hot Springs Senior Center. “This will contribute to a healthier, more connected, and a more supported senior community in Thermopolis and Hot Springs County.”

The second grant to the Hot Springs Senior Center is a capacity-building microgrant of $2,500 through the 2025 AARP Community Challenge grant program. This will cover the cost of three educational training workshops for older adults focusing on making homes safer and encouraging family involvement. Participants in the event will receive low-cost home safety and accessibility products to use immediately. This grant is funded through AARP’s HomeFit Guide Modifications category, which offers education, simple home modifications and safety solutions to help create and maintain “lifelong homes.”

“We have seen an increase in falls and fires within our community, with one fire resulting in the death of a senior,” Moore said. “We need to encourage and inform the senior population and community about safety within the home.”

Heritage Towers of the Christian Church in Sheridan will use $4,500 to turn a largely-unused slab of concrete alongside their building into an area for socialization, planting flowers as well as vegetables in raised beds. The facility has partnered with Rooted in Wyoming to maximize vegetable harvest this year for residents. Heritage Towers also hopes to use grant funding to upgrade patio furniture for those who have mobility impairments. Heritage Towers is a section 8/202 building with 75 units largely devoted to senior housing.

“The goal is to increase socialization and encourage our seniors to spend time outdoors breathing in the fresh air,” said Tammy Yelton-Boone, with Heritage Towers. “There are a number of health benefits associated with spending time outside and we are hoping to create an area that encourages the seniors of Heritage Towers to spend more time outside this summer. The flower and vegetable gardens will be maintained by our Heritage Towers Garden Club, who will benefit from the fresh air, Vitamin D, physical activity and brain health gardening impacts.”

Community Action of Laramie County (CALC) will receive $10,000 in Community Challenge Grant funding to put updated computers and internet access into its veterans housing site. CALC owns and operates the John J. Edmonds Veterans Housing facility which houses eight male veterans who have been honorably discharged from military service and are dealing with chronic homelessness, while enrolled in housing programs through the Veterans Administration or Volunteers of America. The computers will replace outdated machines and allow for internet access for housing searches, telehealth, and job searches. The grant will allow for the purchase of three to four computers and one laptop that can be used across the street from the Edmonds Home where CALC houses two female veterans. CALC’s veterans housing offers a transition as case workers try to find veterans more permanent housing options, while offering life skills training in budgeting, cleaning, and more.

“Technology is at the forefront in the world now,” said CALC Executive Director Tim Ernst. “Without good connections, there is a barrier to research and ability to find good housing.”

About the Community Challenge Grant
The AARP Community Challenge accepts applications across three different grant opportunities. All projects must be consistent with AARP’s mission to serve the needs of people 50 and older along with other eligibility criteria. Capacity-building microgrants are paired with additional resources, such as one-on-one coaching, webinars, cohort learning opportunities and more for improving walkability, bikeability and implementing safe, accessible home modifications.

Demonstration grants focus on improving digital connections to prepare and respond to disasters; reconnecting communities divided by infrastructure; and housing choice design competitions. Flagship grants support projects that improve public places; transportation; housing; diversity, equity and inclusion; civic engagement; community health and economic empowerment; and new this year community resilience; and digital connections.

The Community Challenge is open to eligible nonprofit organizations and government entities. Other types of organizations are considered on a case-by-case basis. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for small, short-term activities to tens of thousands for larger projects.

Past Wyoming Community Challenge Grant Awards
2024
Rooted in Wyoming received a $15,000 grant. The VA Victory Garden project in Sheridan provides ADA paths, shade and irrigation to promote the health and wellbeing of elderly veterans. These upgrades will support local food production for community resilience and economic empowerment.

Catholic Charities of Wyoming received $12,000 in 2024. This project replicated a proven Care for Caregiver Workshops model which was piloted in Sheridan, in several Wyoming communities. It provides training, ongoing support, and materials for the local programs. The program spun off series in Newcastle, Casper, and Cheyenne.

The City of Evanston/Urban Renewal Agency/Main Street Program received $12,500 in grant funding last year. This project generated a more dynamic and active downtown with the purchase of three, concrete outdoor game tables placed in frequently visited public spaces and easily utilized by older adults and those with limited mobility.

The American Legion Post in Buffalo received $5,350. This project will honor Veterans by installing 500 veterans markers in town cemeteries, and conduct outreach to their loved ones.

2023 
Age-Friendly Laramie received $14,846 to convert a donated bus into an accessible greenhouse to establish a community garden. The grant will help pay for installing a wheelchair ramp leading into the bus and convert the bus into an installation art piece by decorating its exterior with tiles. Age-Friendly Laramie is working in conjunction with the Eppson Center for Seniors in Laramie to develop a community vegetable garden on the grounds of the Eppson Center. In spring 2022, Age-Friendly Laramie began construction of seven garden beds on an unused plot of Center grounds. A gardening club was established at the Eppson Center and members planted, maintained and harvested crops.

In 2022, a 16-seat bus was donated to the community garden project. This project will strip the bus of its interior seating and its engine/transmission, thanks to donated help from WyoTech. The bus will then be converted into an accessible greenhouse and storage unit for use by the garden group. A wheelchair ramp will lead into the bus, which will also have shelves to grow plants to be transplanted into the beds.

Mountain Grace Church of Dubois was granted $15,000 for its project aimed at helping those age 50 and over maintain their homes with improvements and assistance. Dubois is a beautiful and isolated community in northwest Wyoming with a population of 934 and a median age of 58. Dubois is 72 miles from Riverton and 75 miles away from Jackson, the two next closest communities with more than 1,000 people, meaning senior services options may be somewhat limited.

The men’s ministry at Grace Church - 16 strong - is offering to help older adults in town with everything from cutting and delivering firewood to to snow removal. The grant funds will go towards equipment and trailer purchase to kick off the effort and keep it going. This effort is especially important given the average cost of nursing homes through Medicaid in Wyoming is around $6,000 per person, per month and $91,000 per year for nursing home care paid for privately.

The Thayne Senior Center was granted $10,000 to provide transportation for older adults to medical appointments outside of the Star Valley area. Given Star Valley's isolation from larger communities with more specialized health care availability, The Thayne Senior Center will work with a local transportation company to transport older adults to appointments in Jackson, Idaho Falls, and Salt Lake City.

Cheyenne’s popular trishaw rides program expanded to Laramie thanks to a $15,000 grant for the Miles of Smiles program. The result is free trishaw rides will soon be available in Laramie. A trishaw is a large, specially built, electric-assisted tricycle designed for mobility impaired folks. It is powered by a trained "pilot" so the passenger can enjoy the riding and conversation in a safe and comfortable passenger seat.

In 2022, Miles of Smiles, began offering this no-cost service in Cheyenne thanks to AARP Wyoming purchasing a trishaw for this community.While the trishaws are battery supported, the pedal power and good company is provided by fully trained and insured pilots, most frequently older adults themselves. With the $15,000 grant funding, the trishaw, insurance, and related tools allow adults in Laramie to safely and securely experience the wind in their hair and the sun on their faces, on slow and enjoyable rides.

Holy Name Catholic Church of Sheridan received $7,280 in grant funding to offer workshops that prepare people to be caregivers and partnering with trained and experienced caregivers to provide one-on-one support.

Each workshop will include a story or testimony from a current or former caregiver about a personal experience related to the specific topic and information from a professional in that field. Additionally, the participants receive books and other AARP resources to help them prepare to be caregivers or support them in their current caregiving role.

2022
The Casper American Legion received $30,000 for its Wyoming’s Fallen Memorial, a monument which will feature the name of every Wyoming citizen who has given their lives in combat defending the freedom of the United State since the start of Wyoming’s statehood. The Casper American Legion has worked with the Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars to find a way citizens can observe the memorial by foot, wheelchair, or even car. The memorial is located at Patterson Park, along the North Platte River near Fort Caspar.

The Veterans’ Rock organization out of Cheyenne received $4,000 in 2022 to help provide transportation to older veterans in hopes of helping them to stay independent. Veterans’ Rock will use this money to fund everything from rides in the organization’s vehicles, to city transit, commuter buses, and even to offer basic car repairs. Veterans' Rock, which opened nearly two years ago, is a nonprofit organization created solely to help veterans in need and their families with clothing, personal care items, foods, household goods, small apartment-size furniture, gas and food cards. The organization also offers veterans computers to help with job searches and telehealth, much needed gear, showers, and a washer and dryer for any veteran in need to do laundry.

Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC) was granted $3,712 in 2022 to provide accessible and safe seating and path lighting at an established community food forest frequented by families and older adults in Sheridan. The PRBRC and a host of dedicated food forest volunteers have been instrumental in developing and maintaining The Sheridan Food Forest over the last five years. The food forest is filled with apple and pear trees, as well as a wild berry thicket, vegetable garden, grape vines and a perennial pollinator garden and much more.

Children's Museum of Cheyenne received $2,645 to provide a space for relaxation and contemplation on ADA-compliant outside benches, on the Children's Museum of Cheyenne property, close to the Greater Cheyenne Greenway. The museum will place the benches at 1618 O’Neal Avenue in Cheyenne and will be built by five retired volunteers. The Cheyenne Children’s Museum has recently begun construction of its facility.

The Town of Wheatland received $28,000 from AARP in 2021, which it used to construct pickleball courts at Lewis Park on Eighth Street in Wheatland. According to Wheatland officials, there are better than 100 pickleball players in town, ranging in age from 20 to 83. That group struggled to find a place to play last year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wheatland used its grant funding to repurpose an underutilized area of the City Park. The community removed seven horseshoe pits (leaving five) and replaced them with two outdoor pickleball courts in an area with existing lighting, adjacent to existing restrooms.

2021
Evanston Main Street’s $12,550 grant went towards improving public spaces in downtown, as the Urban Renewal Agency plans to increase outdoor seating with the construction of two swing picnic tables, which will be placed in separate public gathering places.

One side of the picnic tables will be a solid bench, while the other side will have swings with the ends being open to allow for wheelchair accessibility. The second deliverable for the grant will be the addition of decorative crosswalks across Main Street. The crosswalks will bookend the area where the two swinging picnic tables will reside.

The Jackson Hole Land Trust was awarded a $10,250 grant from AARP in 2020 to provide benches in downtown Jackson. The Land Trust will partner with local artists and AARP’s Age Friendly Jackson, to purchase and install at least three locally-made benches. The benches will be located on The Block, a 1.3 acre of downtown greenspace that was recently preserved by the Land Trust. The Block will also include 100-year-old Cottonwood trees, ADA pathways through the greenspace. The Block is on the same street as a local assisted living center, and one block from the Jackson Town Square.

The Cokeville Senior Citizens Center is receiving $25,000 in 2020 Challenge Grant funds to improve walkability as well as the ability for citizens to access the town’s Senior Center. The grant is part of nearly $47,000 in community improvements, which will also include increasing access to the Cokeville City Park’s pavilion and restrooms, by adding ramps to each. The Cokeville project will include improvements to crumbling concrete, the addition of ramps, and replacement of a raised deck in the courtyard at the Senior Center, which will allow those with wheelchairs, walkers, or canes to take part in outdoor activities at the center.

2019
The North Main Street Association in Sheridan was granted $11,700 to fund a new gazebo, picnic table and nine benches along the North Main Trail. Meanwhile, The Jackson Hole Community Pathways project was awarded a $14,440 grant to help make downtown Jackson a more enjoyable space for the age 50+. Jackson Hole Community Pathways used the money on a design workshop to solicit input from those age 50 and over on downtown walkability, amenities, and activities. Pathways is also coordinating with Cycling Without Age and Teton Adaptive Sports for two Trishaw bikes that will provide rides to seniors around town.

2018
AARP’s Community Challenge program funded projects in Laramie and Rock Springs. In Laramie, a grant of $20,000 to fund a new fully accessible community garden to increase access to healthy food, multi-generational learning opportunities, and support a culture of health for all people living with mobility and disability challenges. In Rock Springs, a $5,000 grant has funded a mural to be prominently displayed in Downtown Rock Springs, which will depict the hard work and sacrifices of local miners and railroad workers.

2017 
Two Wyoming communities – Casper and Jackson – were awarded Community Challenge Grants. In Casper, the grant provided a safer and more convenient bus stop behind the city’s east side Albertsons at 2625 East Second Street. In Jackson, a similar bus stop was replaced in an area which was cluttered with weeds, a broken down vehicle and other trash in an underserved area of the community. A bench was placed on the site and age-friendly signage entices low-income seniors, disabled individuals, and young families to use the bus system.