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The AARP Community Challenge in California

AARP

Published March 06, 2025

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The AARP Community Challenge grant program is part of the nationwide AARP Livable Communities initiative that helps communities make immediate improvements and jump-start long-term progress in support of residents of all ages.

Since the program's debut in 2017, AARP has invested $24.3 million through over 2,000 grants to make communities nationwide more livable, including 70 projects in California. Grants improve public places, transportation, housing, and more — with an emphasis on the needs of adults aged 50 and older.

On June 18, 2025, AARP announced this year’s winners, and California’s recipients can be seen below.

California Grant Recipients 2025

Sacramento: ACC Senior Services – This project aims to expand ACC’s garden, providing older adults with gardening opportunities and increasing accessibility for those with disabilities. The garden will feature benches, a gazebo, and raised beds, creating a community meeting place that promotes health and well-being for all.
San Diego: Bike San Diego – Bike San Diego will conduct a bike and walk audit along Fairmount Avenue, from Meade Avenue to University Avenue, to identify safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists. The focus is on older adults, aiming to create a safer, more accessible corridor that promotes mobility, independence, and active living.
Statewide: California Fire Safe Council – This project will produce and distribute accessible digital and printable materials on wildfire mitigation and preparedness for older adults and other vulnerable residents in wildfire-prone areas, enhancing community safety and resilience.
Pinole: City of Pinole – The PAL Program will host six workshops to educate 120 older adults and individuals with disabilities on universal design and home accessibility solutions. Attendees will learn how to make their homes safer and navigate the permitting process, with some expected to apply for permit fee waivers.
San Francisco: Community Living Campaign – This grassroots project encourages communities to assess their neighborhoods for accessibility and accommodation. Residents will learn to report issues using the 311 app and other city services, promoting inclusive and accessible environments for all.
Los Angeles: East LA Community Corporation – ELACC’s “ADU 101” workshops will educate low- to moderate-income homeowners on Los Angeles’ Eastside, especially older adults, on developing rental units to increase housing supply and generate income.
Oakland: EVOAK! – The 980 Block Party will engage West Oakland residents to reimagine the 980 Freeway. The event will support freeway redesign, improve access and safety, and reclaim public space. EVOAK! will document community history and collaborate with local organizations to promote equitable development and affordable housing.
Imperial Beach: Imperial Beach Arts Bureau – Imperial Beach Arts Bureau will conduct four bike audits along the Bayshore Bikeway trail and major avenues and hold four community meetings in English and Spanish. It will recruit various age groups for intergenerational participation.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles Walks – This campaign will educate communities about California’s new daylighting law, which prohibits parking within 20 feet of crosswalks. It aims to raise awareness, promote compliance, and improve pedestrian safety for people age 50 and over.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles Walks – Los Angeles Walks will lead walk audits in South LA neighborhoods to engage adults age 50 or over in exploring public spaces and identifying access barriers. Participants will share their experiences to shape future improvements and advocate for safer streets through storytelling.
Redding: Shiningcare Inc. – Shiningcare Inc. will host four free Disaster Preparedness Symposiums in rural Shasta County. These events will feature local emergency resource agencies, social services, and health vendors. Older adults and family caregivers will receive risk assessment tools, preparedness information, checklists, and other safety resources.
Santa Cruz: Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County – The HomeFit Guide Modification project will offer six free workshops to teach older adults how to make their homes safer. Volunteers will also promote the Helping Hands program, which provides free grab bars and home safety modifications to older adults with low income.
Various Cities: World Institute on Disability – This initiative will provide digital literacy workshops and accessible emergency resources to older adults and people with disabilities, enhancing disaster preparedness and promoting the use of broadband and assistive technology.

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California Grant Recipients 2024

Fresno: U.S. Green Building Council Central California – Grant to support a design competition that explored adaptive reuse options for an empty office space.
Imperial Beach: City of Imperial Beach – Grant to build and maintain a garden for growing fruit, vegetables and flowers. The project included the development of raised planter beds and accessible benches to accommodate older gardeners, as well as educational gatherings onsite.
Long Beach: Placemaking US – Grant to build a community comal — or traditional griddle — to engage older Meso-American women in weekly tortilla making.
Los Angeles: Keiro Services – Grant to support three volunteer led walk audits in Little Tokyo’s commercial district. Participants identified potential improvements to sidewalks and crosswalks.
Los Angeles: Streets For All – Grant to support pop-up events to identify solutions to reconnect their neighborhoods. Neighbors living on either side of a freeway, which has bisected the area for decades, will come together.
Rancho Cordova: Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates – Grant to support bike audit of Rancho Cordova’s first-ever roundabout project, that was followed by a meeting with city public works staff to discuss findings and next steps.
Sacramento: Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum – Grant to support pop-up placemaking project that transformed a parking lot into an outdoor plaza. Volunteers installed accessible benches to accommodate older adults attending planned events in the space.
San Diego: Adams Avenue Business Association – Grant to support the creation of a large mural, transforming an alley into a green space. A pop-up event featured mural designs chosen based on community input. Residents voted for their favorite design and joined professionals and city staff to create the mural.
San Diego: Webster Heights Community Development Corporation – Grant to support a volunteer led bike audit along a multi-use path to identify possible safety improvements for the route.
San Francisco: Outer Sunset Neighbors - Grant to support three walk audits which evaluated the safety and walkability of sidewalks and crosswalks in San Francisco’s Little Chinatown neighborhood.
Vallejo: Vallejo Main Street – Grant to support the transformation of a neglected alleyway into a lively gathering space for residents of all ages.

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California Grant Recipients 2023

Arcata: Arcata House Partnership -- Grant to develop a community garden for a 60-unit apartment complex serving previously unhoused people to improve their nutrition and provide opportunities to socialize.
Fresno: USGBC Central California – Grant to support a competition that invited local students and the design, construction, and engineering community to design a sustainable accessory dwelling unit that can be used in a multigenerational setting. 
Gualala: Gualala Community Center – Grant to support project which provided mobile solar chargers to older residents and others in need. The devices are especially important during wildfires, earthquakes, and weather-related electrical outages in the rural, hard-to-access area.
Highland: Highlanders Boxing Club – Grant to support a safe streets project that improved the area's walkability for older residents and identified ways to reduce traffic-related fatalities and injuries in the area.
Long Beach: Healthy Aging Center – Grant to support program that provides rides for adults aged 55 and older who lack other means of transportation to essential services needed for their health and well-being.
Los Angeles: Asian Americans for Housing and Environmental Justice – Grant to support increase public transportation use and mobility for older Asian American Pacific Islanders that reduced language, cultural and technological barriers to access. 
Orosi: Rural Communities Resource Center – Grant to support recruitment of volunteers aged 50+ to conduct six walk audits along two busy traffic corridors.
Oxnard: Gold Coast Transit District – Grant to support project that benefitted residents who use public transportation by providing seating and lighting at bus stops in neighborhoods with large older adult populations. 
Sacramento: Civic Thread – Grant to support the transformation of a park by staging a vibrant pop-up community celebration and organizing workshops where older adults can become involved in decisions about how to improve their community.
San Diego: Webster Heights Community Development Corporation Inc. – Grant to support recruitment of older volunteers to conduct five walk audits in residential areas to identify potential locations for sidewalk and crosswalk improvements.
Santa Rosa: Farm to Pantry – Grant to support project that provided 10 "Farm-acy" Carts that delivered food to low-income senior housing communities and medical facilities. Older adults were able to take home top-quality, fresh, immunity-boosting, nutritious and locally grown produce at no cost.

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California Grant Recipients 2022

Compton: Los Angeles Conservation Corps – Grant to support planting events at the Compton Creek Natural Park to replace white alder trees with drought-tolerant species and surround them with native plants.
Fullerton: Providence St. Jude Medical Center – Grant to support twice-weekly training sessions on outdoor fitness equipment at four parks frequented by older adults.
Lake County: Lake Links – Grant to support the launch of an easy-to-use ride service program for older adults and people with disabilities.
Pollock Pines: Community Economic Development Association Pollock Pines (CEDAPP) – Grant to build town’s first public park which is Western-themed, features a nature trail and outdoor fitness equipment.
San Diego: Bayside Community Center – Grant to support the transformation of a dirt patch at the Linda Vista Community Park into a garden, providing produce for a local environmental learning center and serving as an alternative food source in an area that's largely a food desert.
San Diego: Disabled Services Advisory Council, City of San Diego Parks – Grant to support the transformation of an overgrown lot at the Park de la Cruz Community Center into a garden with raised flower beds and accessible seating. Photo Album
San Francisco: SF Tech Council (a program of the Community Living Campaign) – Grant to support pop-up events that offered free, multilingual tech support to older adults staged in four underserved communities. Video
San Francisco: Tenderloin Community Benefit District – Grant to transform an alleyway to be enlivened with murals, planters, tables and chairs, ADA-compliant benches, music performances and more. 
San Mateo County: Peninsula Volunteers, Inc. – Grant to support a program providing reduced-cost rides service for older adults via Lyft and Uber which expanded into the northern reaches of San Mateo County.

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California Grant Recipients 2021

Altadena: Altadena Town Council Safe Streets Committee – Grant to support advocacy for safe access to parks, this demonstration project included a bicycle park, an accessible nature trail loop and ecology walk.
Chula Vista: City of Chula Vista (Development Services Department and Age-Friendly Communities Initiative) – Grant to support the “We Are Chula Vista” campaign, which features photographs of older Chula Vista residents on mounted banners throughout the city and posts their life stories on the community’s website.
Fresno: California State University Fresno Foundation – Grant to support the Leadership Academy classes offered through the Fresno State Gerontology Program to help older adults develop advocacy skills and connect with elected officials.
Montclair: Montclair Community Foundation – Grant to support the addition of raised garden beds, a shade structure, lighting and seating to the Montclair Community Garden that allows people of all abilities to enjoy the space.
Oakland: H abitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley – Grant to support the Oakland Community Garden program, Habitat for Humanity supplied skilled labor, volunteers and funding to repair which upgraded community gardens so the spaces can provide area residents with nutritious food and safe places to gather.
Salinas: City of Salinas – Grant to support a bilingual educational campaign about accessory dwelling units (or ADUs) will make the process of building one more understandable. Photo Album
San José: Veggielution – Grant to support the revitalization of an underutilized parking lot in the downtown arts district with a demonstration garden, farm stand, dog park, mobile food vending hub and artistic murals.

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California Grant Recipients 2020

El Cajon: Circulate San Diego – Grant to support the creation of educational resources for older adults, particularly the community's large Iraqi refugee population, to help them become more comfortable using public transit and lay the foundation for future transit use.
Hayfork: Friends of the Hayfork Park – Grant to support the improvement of the park and public pool during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic by installing safety and hygiene measures for people using the pool and attending a farmers' market.
Los Angeles: Echo Park Film Center – Grant to support a project to bring older and younger adults together to share experiences and stories for a film project that will be shared in outdoor settings.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles River State Park Partners – Grant to support a new Chinatown Health Initiative, that created a culturally responsive and inclusive green space to help bridge the gap between the services, programs and park accommodations needed by older adults.
San Leandro: City of San Leandro – Grant to host a design charrette to engage students, residents, older adults and community groups in the creation of an ADA-compliant public space for gardening, education and exploring the San Leandro Creek ecosystem.
Seaside: United Way Monterey County – Grant to build two affordable, accessible housing units and — through workshops, digital resources and the sharing of prototype plans — encourage the development of accessory dwelling units.

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California Grant Recipients 2019

Los Angeles: Thai Community Development Center – Grant to support the installation of planters and a mural on a central community building in Thai Town to beautify the space and make it more inviting.
Los Angeles: Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust – Grant to support the activation of areas at the future Golden Age Park – a park designed for older adults – this project installed a communal tool shed, exercise equipment, accessible raised planters, picnic tables and a BBQ pit. Article and Video 
San Diego: City Heights Community Development Corporation – Grant to support the transformation of a vacant, fenced in and inaccessible lot positioned near a commercial corridor into a public space by installing lighting, seating, murals and other public art displays, and kiosks for local artists to sell their goods.
West Sacramento: City of West Sacramento – Grant to support city-provided targeted fire safety education to a cohort of older adult households that are at heightened risk and also offered an in-home consultation and free smoke alarms and installation.

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California Grant Recipients 2018

Chula Vista: Chula Vista Development Services/Age-Friendly Communities – Grant to support city project to create new resources — including a video, field trips and free transit passes for older adults — to illustrate how simple it can be to use public transit
Long Beach: Walk Long Beach – Grant to build two temporary crosswalks and expanded programming around a 10-mile community walk to enhance safety and engagement and improve public space aesthetics. Photo Album
San Diego: City Heights Community Development Corporation – Grant to support the enhancement of vibrancy of the Little East Africa neighborhood by installing culturally-relevant and branded cues through permanent art features and enhancements to a local bus stop. Photo Album
San Francisco: Florence Fang Asian Community Garden – Grant to support the activation of 10,000 square-feet of land within the community garden, expand training and improve the facilities used to distribute healthy food. Photo Album
West Sacramento: City of West Sacramento – Grant to support the development of educational programming to encourage older adults to use the city’s on-demand car and bicycle transportation system. Video

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California Grant Recipients 2017

Fontana: City of Fontana – Grant to support the purchase of materials in support of Fontana Walks, an initiative that encourages residents of all ages to walk a collective “2 Billion Steps” (or 1 million miles) in 365 days.
San Diego: Consumer Advocates for RCFE Reform – Grant to support game-initiated discussions about what age-friendly meant in terms of community infrastructure. CARR created a board game, called Boomer.ology, that's based on the 8 Domains of Livability framework (used by the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities) and designed to engage older adults in the process of making San Diego a more age-friendly city. See project article.
Santa Cruz: Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay – Grant to build an ADA-compliant accessory dwelling unit (ADU) as part of a program that enables older homeowners to age in place. See project video.
West Sacramento: City of West Sacramento – Grant to support the improvement of pedestrian safety by adjusting signal timing and the installation of pedestrian-controlled crosswalk buttons near a housing development occupied by older adults.