Grants for Change: AARP's Community Challenge

We jump right into this episode sharing this time-sensitive podcast and discussing the details and opportunities on how you might be able to take advantage of AARP's Community Challenge, Grants for Change! We are joined by Mike Watson, Director of Livable Communities at AARP. 

This initiative aims to enhance community livability for all ages by funding projects that bring tangible improvements. From adding benches to enhancing trail access, these grants support local governments and nonprofits in creating better public spaces.

We also discuss the 2025 grant opportunities, including flagship grants of up to $25,000 for public space and transportation improvements and more. Micro-grants for disaster preparedness and more. Demonstration grants for pedestrian safety, internet access, and more.

Discover how the program aligns with AARP's mission to improve lives for those aged 50 and older, fostering communities that cater to all ages. Tune in to learn how you can participate in this impactful initiative. Don't miss it, the deadline is fast approaching!!!!

 Visit aarp.org/communitychallenge

 SeniorLivingGuide.com Podcast sponsored by TransMed Care Long Distance Medical Transportation & GoGo Grandparent

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Transcript

Darleen Mahoney [0:01 - 0:56]: And today we are joined by Mike Watson. He is the Director of Livable Communities at AARP where he is the enterprise lead for livable community efforts and works with AARP's 53 state offices to encourage towns, counties, cities and rural areas to be more livable for people of all ages. He leads AARP's team that is responsible for programs that reach over 1100 locations, including the AARP Network of Age Friendly States and Communities, direct technical assistance, resources, free award winning publications and resources, and livability grants which we're going to talk about today to communities nationwide through the AARP Community Challenge grant programs. Thank you for joining the SeniorLivingGuide.com podcast today, Mike. 

Mike Watson [0:57 - 0:59]: Thanks for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here. 

Darleen Mahoney [1:00 - 1:27]: Oh, I am so excited to have you on and we're going to talk about something that's super time sensitive today. So I'm so glad that folks are able to listen and hopefully take action. Pretty snippety snap, but we are going to talk about the grants that AARP really, I guess spearheads or I'm going to let you tell us about that. So tell us a little bit about these grants that AARP spearheads. 

Mike Watson [1:27 - 3:56]: Yeah. And so first of all, just again, really delighted to be here today to talk a little bit about this work and what AARP is. Many of you are probably familiar with aarp. You've probably seen our kind of education. You've received information from us over the years. You might have seen our advocacy in D.C. and in Florida and around the country. And you may have even seen us in your community. So I just want to kind of hit on that because what AARP is, is we're truly a nationwide organization and we're working across the country to help make communities better places for people, no matter their age. We know that people as they age want to live in your communities that you've, that you've grown up in. Many of you have raised your families in there and many of you may have moved, moved to kind of be closer to those families. But we also know that it takes a little bit of work to make communities more livable, make them better places for anybody, no matter their age. And that's what the AARP Community Challenge is about. It's about providing a little bit of funding to support local governments, support nonprofit organizations and other groups to help make real improvements in places to make them better for all ages. And what that looks like is benches on your main street so that you can take a seat while you're shopping in your favorite places or visiting your favorite coffee shop. It looks like new access to trails in your community. It can also look like new transportation options around town so that local governments and nonprofits can pilot how to get folks from point A to point B to point C back to point A in the community. Because we know that it's such an important lifeline for folks. So what these grants are is projects just like that. And we're actually, you mentioned kind of starting in this time sensitive period. So we're actually in the middle of the application window for the ARP Community Challenge right now. And that application window closes on March 5, 2025 at 5:00pm Eastern. So if you're listening today and you have an organization that you're a part of, or maybe you have a friend who's part of organization or you want to start an organization and can think about, want to do some of the work that we're talking about today, we encourage you to take a listen. You can also go to aarp.org communitychallenge and learn more about these grant opportunities. So really excited to share more about it as this conversation goes on. 

Darleen Mahoney [3:56 - 4:19]: Yeah, absolutely. And we'll include that website link in our description on all the apps that you're listening to. So just know that you'll get that in that description. So if you missed that, it's clickable right there. So we'll share that for sure. So give us a little bit of a overview of what the 2025 AARP Community Challenge grants are. 

Mike Watson [4:20 - 8:28]: Yeah, so what the projects are. So the ARP Community Challenge and what it really focuses on, as I mentioned earlier, is real life improvements in your community that are going to make it a better place for you. Also focuses on community engagement and really want to underscore this. There is a quick action timeline because we believe that change can be made possible. It takes time, but we know that it's made possible with lots of little steps and we want to be part of that change. So that's something to really underscore. And as I mentioned earlier, the program is open to local governments or state governments and 501C3, C4 and C6 nonprofits. We can consider others on a case by case basis. So if you're, if you're kind of not sure if you're on the fence, well, you can go to our website and there's lots of FAQs you can sort through there. So the opportunities that we have this year, we have three opportunities available for folks. First, we have, we have an opportunity called Flagship Grants, and these are kind of our traditional grants that ARP has given out through this community challenge since 2017. And what they are are projects kind of in this, you know, roughly $10,000 range. We won't grant a project that's kind of larger than $25,000. But what they're going to do is focus on improving public places. I mentioned a little bit of that earlier, talking about benches on Main street, trail access, improving transportation options in the community, improving access to housing choices and improving understanding of housing options, increasing access to digital connections and also improving community resilience in the face of everything we're seeing with, with weather events. So that's one opportunity. The second are what we called capacity building micro grants, which are a really fun area that we developed in the program recently. So these are $2,500 grants which, you know, might sound like a lot or might sound like not much, but you can get a lot done with them. And what they are small grants to an organization, but also combined with one on one coaching from AARP and leading national nonprofit organizations on a few areas to really help you get going on your project and help you see it through. And for these types of opportunities, we're accepting applications for projects that support one, disaster preparedness training. So helping people understand what they need to do to prepare for a disaster for themselves and for their community. Also walk audits, which is a very, very cool activity where people can get together with their local elected officials and organizations and go out and identify problematic or troublesome intersections, crosswalks, and make sure those are documented to help make the case so that they can be improved upon moving forward. Same thing with bike audits for those of you who like to ride your bike around town. And then finally, we also have a kind of category in here for GOT for home modifications using the AARP Home Fit Guide. So this is small modifications to your house that can ensure that you are able to live in that place no matter your age and as you, as you continue to age. And then finally, I'll talk very quickly about our demonstration grants. So there are three types of opportunities that we're offering here. First, with support from Toyota Motor North America, we're going to fund projects that are going to enhance pedestrian safety. So making it easier to walk, making it easier to bike across communities. And again with funding from Microsoft, we're also working to expand access to high speed Internet across the country. And then finally we have two other opportunities, two other categories under here focused on reconnecting communities that are divided by infrastructure and finally implementing design competitions by local government to help people understand the different housing options that are in communities. So a whole lot of information I just shared there, but as you know, it's all on our website, aarp.org communitychallenge if you can think of a project, there's a path to get it funded in the AARP Community Challenge. 

Darleen Mahoney [8:29 - 10:11]: Yeah, absolutely. I love the micro grants because one of the things that I like about them is they're quick and they're easy and they're super important. One of the things I love is that home fit guide modifications because, you know, working in the senior industry, one of the things that we absolutely know for sure is that if you have a senior that falls, that's a life altering or could potentially be a life altering event for a senior that is happily aging in place. They have either no funds or no desire to move into senior housing. And they really do just enjoy being in their own home. And a fall can absolutely change their entire life trajectory where they lose their independence. They may have to move into an assisted living or skilled or something of that nature. And so really having your home where it's set for safety is so important. If you are already living in a home that is already, you know, it is what it is, you can make those modifications or if you're building a home or whatever, understanding some of the things that you need to do to make that home safe moving forward for the rest of your life, I think that is so amazing. I love that. And then some of the other things that are just in, they're just small grants, but they're definitely, I mean, they're life altering for our seniors that are older. So I do really like that. I appreciate those as well. And then also, you know, we're coming into the digital age, being able to have access to the Internet and those digital connections are so important as we're moving forward and the availability of all of that. So yeah, those are just small things, but big, big differences in people's lives. 

Mike Watson [10:11 - 10:55]: It's so true. I mean, I think we've, you know, we all kind of spent a few years and you know, during the COVID 19 pandemic. And I think one thing that that showed was access to high speed Internet is critical. It was no longer a luxury for people. It was in many cases life saving. And it was a necessity to stay connected to family and loved ones. And since then I think we've seen many more organizations, many more communities working to ensure that people have access to that because we've Seen, I have young kids and, you know, they get to FaceTime with their grandmother and you know, my parents all the time now to keep that connection going. And we were able to use it for so much more as well. 

Darleen Mahoney [10:56 - 12:08]: Yeah, absolutely. It's so important to have that connectivity with seniors, specifically when they are aging in place or even when they're in assisted living or what have you to be able to look in and have that faith connection. And you do have more of a relationship, I think when you are able to look at someone, you know, the FaceTime was a huge thing in building those relationships. I have friends that have their adult children and things like that that are no longer in the same cities and things like that. And they have that continuing relationship where they feel really, really close to their children because they are able to jump on and doing all the facetimes and those types of things where just the traditional phone calls or the texting, you know, the texting. I don't know how you can keep a really close relationship when you're just consistently texting. So it's such a great invention, I should say. But. And I don't even know when it occurred, but at some time, at some time in the last, I don't know, probably 10 plus years. But. But yeah, no, I think that's really great. So. So who is eligible to apply for the AARP Community Challenge Grant? 

Mike Watson [12:08 - 13:29]: Yeah, so this is, that's a great question. What this, what this offer opportunities available or kind of folks who are eligible. It's going to be government entities and 501, C3, C4 and C6 nonprofit. So if you're kind of listening to this today and you're like, oh, I have a really cool idea, I'd love to apply. Unfortunately, a individual cannot apply for the grants. But what you can do is if you're affiliated with an organization, if you're a volunteer, if you're on the board of your local civic association, or if you know somebody and you want to pitch them this idea, an organization can apply for and receive those funds. And the last thing I would say too is if you're kind of a, you know, a hearty band of volunteers who are working to improve your community, but you don't have that official nonprofit designation, what you can do is actually go coordinate with another entity who can then receive the funds and you can apply for the grant using a fiscal agent to receive those funds. They'll manage the kind of grant making process. You can work closely with them to execute the project you had envisioned. Again, there's kind of lots of nuances there. But you can reach out to us@aarp.org communitychallenge. We have a bunch of FAQs and an inbox that's managed, and we'll get a response back to you very quickly. 

Darleen Mahoney [13:29 - 14:21]: Okay, so in a scenario as this, you are a senior and maybe you have a group of seniors that you maybe get coffee with and maybe play pickleball, because that's the rage right now is the pickleball. But you see an issue in your area where maybe there's not proper pedestrian pathways or something of that nature, and you see that there is a problem. Is that something where maybe they're getting together and having coffee, a group of them, and they have this conversation, they say, you know what, let's check into this. Yeah, See if this is something where we can apply. And they would go to that website and they would say, hey, we as a group want to get together and find out if we can get funding for this under our group. Is that something that. Am I. Am I not following correctly or am. 

Mike Watson [14:21 - 15:40]: I. Yeah, that's absolutely the case. And we funded so many projects like that over the year. You mentioned pickleball. It's a few years ago we started seeing these applications popping up for pickleball courts and we're like, well, there's something here right now. So that's absolutely a possibility. If you're a small group of folks who are just wanting to improve your community, but you don't have the kind of big official IRS designation as a non profit, what you can do is go. Many of us have relationships in the community. If we're working to improve our community, we know who else is in the group, who else is in the mix there. So you can go talk to your local civic association, your local Main street association, and talk to them about the idea, work with them to get them to agree to commit to be a fiscal agent for you, submit your application with them noted as the fiscal agent, and then once you get kind of, you know, if you're granted, there's kind of a whole paperwork thing that, that gets sorted out. But if you're a group of volunteers just to underscore who are working to improve your community and you don't have that official, official designation, you absolutely can apply under this, as long as you identify a. What's known as a fiscal agent, kind of an official nonprofit to receive the funds. But you can still apply and execute that really fantastic project you've had dreamed up. 

Darleen Mahoney [15:40 - 15:56]: I love that. So I think that that is fun. And I think if you are within a group of men or women or mixed, whatever, and you do have a mission and you see something that's in your area that you really want to accomplish, that's a great way to go about. 

Mike Watson [15:58 - 17:23]: Really is. And to me, I think when we look at the Community Challenge grants, I think that's one of the things that really under that I think makes them unique and is really very important to us is so many of them. They're not massive grants. Right. And we're not talking about $20 million infrastructure grants. These are kind of, you know, medium to smaller grants that are just helping to improve communities with a small step. And about 95% of projects that we have funded have been reliant on and implemented by volunteers over the age of 50. It is a really important thing that underscores the program and the other area I think that's so important is community engagement. In this program. We know that projects that are just kind of plopped in the community without kind of that, that taking the time to hear what people actually want, taking the time to hear their thoughts, their concerns and shape something, they're not going to have that sustainability. So it's very important to us that projects we're funding are coming from the community. Community members are involved, they've been asked for input, they're part of the process. So again, just underscoring that that is so critical. And those of you who are out there doing that work in your community commend you and definitely encourage you to think about applying as part of your work. 

Darleen Mahoney [17:23 - 18:03]: Yeah, they have the passion for it. They see the need. They have the passion, especially when it surrounds safety, transportation or accessibility. I think there's a passion for that and they know that it's going to just not help them, but it's also going to help their neighbors and they're going to jump in to make it happen. So I absolutely agree with you on that for sure. And one of the things that I did notice in some of the information as I was looking at some of these grants is one thing that I thought was really cool. It's not the ever the never ending project that we, we have seen and you know, especially since 2020, is that there is an expectation that that project will be completed by mid December. 

Mike Watson [18:03 - 19:02]: Yes. Yeah, that is kind of one of the things that we think is really important about this grant program is that it has what we call a quick action timeline. Our application window closes on March 5th and projects have to be Completed, as you noted, in December by the end of the year. So we expect kind of. We make decisions over a course of a few months. Grantees are announced at the end of June, and there's about six months there to complete those projects. And this stems out of what we heard from ARP volunteers from mayors from other organizations who were just telling us, man, we just have this small project. We would love to get it done. I have. We've got shovels ready. We've got the plans. We just need a little bit of funding to help get us started and help us show the rest of the community what it is we're trying to build. So that's really why we started this program. We wanted to keep that quick action timeline. So you've got something you want to do, this grant can help you get. Get it done. 

Darleen Mahoney [19:03 - 20:45]: Yeah, absolutely. That's some definite bragging rights for AARP to get that quick action. You're in by March 5, a decision by end of June and completion by mid December. I think that that's fabulous. So for sure. And I think it helps when they're not gigantic projects, so. Because that's when I think sometimes you get in the weeds. So for sure. So. No, I appreciate that. So, you know, one of the things that I was chatting with you about before the podcast is I've been working with AARP here primarily in the state of Florida for a little over a year. And one of the things that I've been learning doing some of the podcasts with AARP is just the wide breadth of things that AARP provides. And it's something that I'm learning because I really didn't realize how many services and things that AARP did do. So I just keep learning. The more that I've had you all join me on these podcasts and some of the things that I've learned, and it's just been so fabulous. And I'm so glad that we're able to share with seniors and caregivers and even the senior industry themselves to just be able to educate them on what is out there and available literally at their fingertips. So I think it's so great that you guys are able to provide all of this information and that you do integrate yourselves so much, even just the grassroots part, the grassroots in the senior communities. But how does this align? How do the grants align with your broader mission? And what's the role does that play in shaping the livable communities for people really, all ages? 

Mike Watson [20:45 - 22:32]: Yeah, I think you said it right there. I mean, so AARP is a social mission organization and we work to improve the lives of people age 50 and older in a number of ways. Right. We kind of fight for our members interests at state capitals in D.C. and in city halls. We also educate and empower our members with information and the 50 plus and their families with information so they can make the best decisions for themselves, plan for their future. And one of the things that we do and increasingly over the last 15, 20 years have done is work in communities to make them better places for all. And this, the Community Challenge grant program is a central part of that mission. AARP State offices like AARP Florida are on the ground working in hundreds and thousands of places across the country today. And that goes from, you know, kind of ensuring that people have access to information about services that are available in their community, working with partners and local government and nonprofit organizations. And it comes to, to programs like the Community Challenge where we're actually investing, supporting and forming partnerships with local governments and nonprofit organizations across the country to support their work and make real investments in communities to show kind of, again, as I mentioned, show people what it looks like, what are the features that are needed to be, to be able to live in a place no matter your age. And that's kind of what it comes down to us is we want to create communities that are great for somebody if you're 50, if you're 80 and if you're 8. It truly is about a community that's great for somebody no matter their age. 

Darleen Mahoney [22:33 - 22:35]: Yeah. And we, we all deserve that, right? 

Mike Watson [22:35 - 22:36]: I think we do. 

Darleen Mahoney [22:36 - 22:55]: Yeah, I think we do. I think we do. For sure. And this has been. You launched this program in 2017. So it's not, it's not super old, but it's definitely probably really getting its legs and you're really being able to expand on the knowledge from over the years on how to really implement this program. 

Mike Watson [22:55 - 24:45]: Yeah, it's. So, yeah, as you mentioned, we, we started in 2017 as a, as kind of a, a pilot project. Right. We wanted to see and, and like everything I said, I mentioned ARP State office, this was truly born out of some really interesting work ARP State offices were doing by funding small projects. And we saw the response that our partner organizations and our members and volunteers had to some of these small projects and kind of wanted to take that potential impact and make it nationwide. So we started with a little pilot program in 2017 and since then it's grown and grown and grown. Not because we think it's so great, but because the impact that we See and what we see and hear every single year in terms of the community need, there are so many needs out there, and we want to be a part of the solution to addressing many of those needs. And since 2017, when we first launched the program, we've now funded $20 million across about 1700 projects across about 1500 communities in the country. So communities all over the place have received these Community Challenge grants. And I really want to underscore this when people are kind of. You might live in a smaller community, a rural place that's, you know, far off from kind of some of the bigger cities, and you might be hearing this thinking, oh, gosh, these are just going to go to the big cities. And that is not what this program is about.40% of our grants have gone to communities that are kind of defined themselves as rural. Since the program's inception, communities with populations as small as 150 people have received grants under this program. So it truly is, if you have a project in mind and you have a compelling need, it is a program that is able to fit that need. 

Darleen Mahoney [24:46 - 25:36]: I love that because sometimes the smaller rural communities don't have the tax dollars on the public project side to get a lot done. Where some of the larger communities, I feel, personally, maybe I'm. I'm not, you know, I'm not, not. Not that I'm educated, but I, you know, tax dollars, the wheels of. The wheels of the tax dollar just turn a little slower, but they have more pocket money for some of the projects. I guess I'm hoping I'm making myself clear in the way that I'm presenting this, but I do feel like sometimes that, you know, there's money for the projects that the folks need, but it just takes longer to get there. But some of the smaller rural communities, where they don't have as much money in the coffers, just don't have the money to fund the projects that are needed. I hope that that makes sense. 

Mike Watson [25:36 - 26:32]: Yeah. And I think what you're talking about, it's truly a universal challenge that we see across the country is just the, you know, the needs are great, the. And the vision is great. Right. Like, it's not like, as you kind of, as we talked about, like, leaders aren't looking around kind of saying, oh, my gosh, what are these challenges? I think every person who's working to improve their community has a vision for what they want to do. And sometimes it truly is just that little step that you need to get it done. And, And I think that's especially True in rural communities where we see, as you noted, nonprofit organization, philanthropic sectors and frankly just people banding together to get things done. And sometimes the kind of opportunity to get things done can be a little quicker in those places as well. So it's one thing we love about supporting rural communities in particular throughout this program. 

Darleen Mahoney [26:32 - 27:19]: Yeah, yeah, I love it. I love it. Well, I really appreciate everything that AARP provides to our communities, specifically our seniors for sure. And then what you are providing with these grants, I think it's absolutely amazing. I love the fact that we can get the word out there. So I'm hoping, hoping that our listeners can take advantage and make some phone calls, band together and help with some of the needs within their own communities and utilize the aarp.org backslash communitychallenge, which will also, as I mentioned, be in our description so that they can utilize that. Check it out. So is if they go to that website, there's also just general information on the grants, etc. 

Mike Watson [27:19 - 28:49]: Yeah, if you go to that website, you'll be able to find, honestly, if you have a question about the, about the grants, it's probably, probably there. And if it's not there, there's an email inbox you can email and we provide a very quick response to it. So, okay, if you got a question, it will be answered. And while you're there, also encourage you to kind of talk, look around on the website a little bit more because there's links to more information about what AARP does. You mentioned kind of home modifications and how important that is. The Home Fit Guide that we talked about is a free tool resource that you can download. It's, you can get it online or you can order a print copy. We have dozens of other tools just like that that you can use to kind of take action in your home to improve your life or improve your community. So definitely encourage you to do that. And the last thing I'll say on this is if you get there and you're kind of looking around, you're like, oh, this is really interesting, I would love to do this. And we have a project in mind, but I just don't think we can get everything together by the deadline. This is an annual program that we offer every single year and we have communities apply multiple years. Maybe the first year they weren't able to get it in, they came back and applied the next year and were granted. So just know that that's going to be an opportunity that's out there in the future as well. So again, if you get there and you're interested but just can't pull it together. We encourage you to still, to still give it a shot and go through the process, but if not, we expect to offer this annually moving forward. 

Darleen Mahoney [28:49 - 28:56]: Oh, perfect. So you can honestly, you can start, if you don't make it in this time, start planning and plotting for next year. 

Mike Watson [28:56 - 29:02]: Love that. Always have to plan and plot and do what you can to get those kind of quick steps done. 

Darleen Mahoney [29:03 - 29:17]: Exactly. Exactly. There you go. Thank you so much for joining us on the seniorlivingguide.com podcast episode, Mike. We absolutely enjoyed it and hopefully we can have you come back on potentially after, after all the decisions have made. We can kind of maybe see what's going on there. 

Mike Watson [29:17 - 29:27]: That sounds lovely. We'd love to do that. We've had 54 projects granted in Florida since this program started and really excited to announce, announce many more this coming. 

Darleen Mahoney [29:28 - 29:33]: Okay. All right. Well, I'd love to catch up on that if that's something that we can do. So that would be great. 

Mike Watson [29:33 - 29:34]: I'd love to. Thank you. 

Darleen Mahoney [29:34 - 29:53]: All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. And if you enjoyed this seniorlivingguide.com podcast episode, please check us out. We are available anywhere you listen to podcasts such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, good pods, or anywhere you listen to music. Thanks for listening.