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AARP Funds Community Improvements Around Tennessee

2026 AARP Community Challenge grant projects focus on home repairs and modifications, digital literacy, disaster preparedness and bike audits

Shelia Poole,

AARP

Published November 01, 2026

woman grabbing hold of a bathroom grab bar

Getty Images/EyeEm

Elizabeth Gray has lived in Nashville’s Haynes Manor neighborhood on and off since 1971.

Recently, though, the 77-year-old retired telecommunications company supervisor was shocked to learn the extent of structural problems needing repair in the ranch-style home where she lives alone. One bathroom had a bad leak behind the shower wall and a buckling floor that — combined with other needed repairs — would cost thousands of dollars to bring up to code.

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“I just stopped using that bathroom,” says Gray, who couldn’t afford the repairs.

Then she heard about Rebuilding Together Nashville, a nonprofit that provides free critical home repairs for veterans, people with disabilities and older adults on fixed incomes. Beginning in May, the organization revamped Gray’s bathroom, installing a walk-in shower with a bench and grab bars, a vanity and flooring. They also updated the flooring in a second bathroom.

The organization is one of 13 recipients across Tennessee to receive 2026 AARP Community Challenge grants, totaling $163,000. The grants fund local projects focused on improving public spaces, transportation, housing and other areas.

Rebuilding Together Nashville is using $17,500 in AARP Community Challenge grants to make home repairs and fall-prevention improvements for adults 60 and over, as well as to hold educational sessions about affordable home modifications that increase safety.

“We’re really working and helping people age in place and stay in their neighborhoods and communities where, on average, our homeowners have lived in their homes for 30-plus years,” says Andrea Prince, the nonprofit’s CEO.

Grants Benefit Residents of All Ages

Other grants this year focused on activities such as teaching digital literacy skills, offering disaster preparedness training and supplies, and conducting bike audits to assess street safety for cyclists.

The results are widespread and benefit Tennesseans of all ages, says Mia McNeil, AARP Tennessee’s state director.

“We know that older Americans love reliable transportation if they’re not driving,” McNeil says. “Well, we have found that younger people in their 20s are also looking for that reliable transportation.”

Since 2017, the AARP Community Challenge program has awarded more than $500,000 to Tennessee organizations and municipalities.

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This year, a nonprofit in Shelbyville, located southeast of Nashville on the Duck River, is using its $15,000 grant to improve accessible seating, shade, lighting, signage and public art along a pedestrian corridor in its Riverview District. The goal is to create a public area that multiple generations can enjoy, says Aaron White, co-founder of the nonprofit Bridge Bedford, which received the grant.

“I have never seen as many grandparents with children than I have in this city,” White says.

Other grants focused on teaching older Tennesseans about technology and how to use it safely and with confidence.

In Cordova, a Memphis suburb, The Jewel Guild Foundation received a $15,000 grant to offer an eight-week course that teaches adults 50 and over the basics of artificial intelligence — including how use its tools for everyday tasks.

Nearby, the Memphis Urban League is using its $15,000 grant to help fund digital confidence workshops. They offer older adults one-on-one help with computers, including lessons on using them safely, conducting effective searches and navigating services like online banking.

Among the students is Francis Elkins, 67, a retired executive secretary on the county board of commissioners. Elkins decided to attend the workshop to refresh her computer skills. She hopes to re-enter the workforce. “I like learning,” she says.

Other Tennessee grant-funded projects include:

Chattanooga ($10,000): Turning a vacant lot into an accessible pocket park with seating, lighting, paths, shade trees and a raised garden.
Clarksville ($25,000): Adding safer crossings, shade and traffic-slowing features near schools, the senior center and civic buildings. The AARP grant included funding support from Toyota Motor North America Inc.
Erin ($2,500): Holding disaster preparedness sessions for older adults in Middle Tennessee’s Houston County, including providing participants with supplies and personal guidance.
Memphis ($5,000): Strengthening food security by supporting community gardening.

AARP will begin accepting applications for 2027 AARP Community Challenge grants in January. Learn more at aarp.org/communitychallenge.

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Shelia Poole is a metro Atlanta-based journalist who has covered a variety of issues for publications including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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