AARP is awarding money to five Indiana organizations or communities, including Angola, as it makes a $3.8 million investment nationally to support projects designed to improve livability.
The organization that caters to people 50 and older said the 2024 Community Challenge grants represent AARP’s largest such investment to date.
Angola Main Street will receive $10,000 of the $50,910 that’s coming to Indiana, according to a Wednesday news release. The Angola organization will use the money for an inclusivity project – installing wheelchair-accessible picnic tables in downtown parks.
Since 2017, AARP Indiana has awarded 31 grants and about $391,630 to nonprofit organizations and government entities through its Community Challenges program. It’s part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative.
“AARP Indiana is proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements to address long-standing and emerging challenges across our communities,” state director Sarah Waddle said in a statement.
The $3.8 million will be shared among 343 organizations nationwide, the news release said. For the eighth annual AARP Community Challenge, the organization received more than 3,350 applications, “resulting in a highly competitive selection process,” it says on the national website.
Grants will improve public places, transportation, housing and more – with an emphasis on the needs of adults 50 and older – in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the website said.
Wednesday’s announcement comes a year after AARP announced that Fort Wayne Trails Inc. was selected from among 310 organizations to receive a 2023 Community Challenge grant. Fort Wayne Trails was selected from more than 3,600 applications.
Other 2024 Indiana grant recipients:
• City of Lafayette, $10,000 – Lafayette’s project will transform a neighborhood’s blighted areas into inviting public spaces through art that tells stories collected from local, older residents.
• South Milford Community League in LaGrange County, $20,000 – The league will expand a local park by clearing overgrown areas and improving ADA accessibility.
• CORE Community Center in Frankfort, $8,410 – This project will create a “safe and aesthetically pleasing” outdoor walking path.
• Families Anchored in Total Harmony Inc. in Gary, $2,500 – The organization will include AARP HomeFit information for Food is Medicine program participants during weekly education sessions, as well as include the AARP HomeFit Guide with their produce boxes.
This year, AARP awarded various different grant opportunities. Focus areas included capacity-building microgrants for improving walkability, bikeability and accessible home modifications.
The program has funding support from Toyota Motor North America.
Grant recipients must complete their projects by Dec. 15.
Last year, Fort Wayne Trails was granted nearly $7,480 to help fund a “quick-action project” that involved partnering with the city and Stillwater Hospice. The goal was to improve access from the public trail system to amenities, including a 2-acre native prairie and a pond, on Stillwater’s Fort Wayne campus, 5910 Homestead Road.
“This project has been completed and the “Stillwater Spur” between our restored native prairie and the Liberty Mills Trail is in use,” Bonnie Blackburn-Penhollow, director of communications for the hospice organization, said through email Wednesday.
Credit: Source link