In an effort to make towns and cities more livable for seniors, AARP Nebraska has opened its annual Community Challenge grant application window.
Projects can be awarded anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. Since the program’s inception in 2017, AARP has invested more than $24 million in 2,100 so-called “quick action” projects that make communities more livable for people of all ages.
AARP Nebraska state director Todd Stubbendieck said the grants have funded a variety of projects in the state, from walking trails and bike paths to city parks and affordable housing units.
“Here in Nebraska, we have funded 34 Community Challenge grants to a little over $400,000 in money going out to communities,” he said. “They are quick-acting in the fact that the money has to be spent, for the project has to be completed within this calendar year.”
Among the projects that have been funded by the AARP grant program was a 2023 project to provide internet service, a desktop computer, desk, projector and screen to the Seven Valleys Senior Center in Callaway to increase opportunities for digital connection.
Stubbendieck said that although these grants are designed to make communities more livable for people 50 and older, the projects improve livability for people of all ages in both rural and urban settings.
“One thing I’m particularly proud of here in Nebraska is that about half of our money has gone to projects in cities and about half of it has gone to rural areas,” he said. “So, we really try to balance the two.”
AARP is doubling its investment in the program this year, and will be awarding more than $8 million in grants nationwide. The grant application period closes March 4.
