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PORTLAND – Area organizations are among 11 throughout Maine awarded AARP Maine 2022 Community Challenge grants for efforts to make communities more livable.
The grants are part of the largest group of grantees to date with $3.4 million awarded among 260 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement quick-action projects that help communities become more livable in the long-term by improving public places; transportation; housing; diversity, equity and inclusion; digital access; and civic engagement, with an emphasis on the needs of adults age 50 and over.
“AARP Maine is committed to working with communities to improve residents’ quality of life through tangible changes,” said Noël Bonam, AARP Maine State Director. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees and to support their efforts as they make immediate improvements in their communities to jumpstart long-term change, especially for Mainers 50 and over.”
Area projects to get grants are:
• Kennebec Estuary Land Trust, Bath — The Whiskeag Trail will be widened and stabilized; bridges will be widened, with ramps added; ADA-compliant benches will be installed; and an emergency system will be updated.
• Age-Friendly Communities of the Lower Kennebec, Bath — A multimedia package informing recipients about accessory dwelling units will be produced.
• United Way of the Tri-Valley Area, Farmington – A program providing free rides to people age 50 and older in this rural community will be maintained and expanded, partly with the addition of seven volunteer drivers.
• Marti Stevens Interactive Improvisational Theater, Skowhegan — Theatrical performances about challenges experienced by older adults will be staged at venues across central Maine.
Other organizations awarded grants are Bangor Livable Communities, Danforth Livable Communities, Project GRACE (Scarborough), Georges River Land Trust (Rockland), Age-Friendly South Portland and the town of Surry.
View the full list of grantees and their project descriptions at aarp.org/communitychallenge and learn more about AARP’s livable communities work at aarp.org/livable.
