Projects in Wheatland and Evanston Receive AARP Grant Funds

Today, AARP announced awardees for its 2020 AARP Community Challenge grant program, with The Town of Wheatland being awarded a $28,000 grant, while the Evanston Urban Renewal Association/Main Street Evanston receiving $11,500 in grant funding. 

In all, there were 31 grant applications for the AARP Community Challenge Grant in 2021 from 28 different communities in Wyoming. Nationally, in 2021, The AARP Community Challenge Grant resulted in $3.2 million awarded to 244 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement quick-action projects to promote livable communities by improving housing, transportation, public spaces, civic engagement, and connection with family, friends, and neighbors with an emphasis on the needs of the 50-plus. 

“We are incredibly proud to collaborate with these organizations as they work to make immediate improvements in their communities, encourage promising ideas and jumpstart long-term change, especially for those age 50 and over,” says AARP Wyoming State Director Sam Shumway. “Our goal at AARP Wyoming is to support the efforts of our communities to be great places for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities.”

The Town of Wheatland

The Town of Wheatland will receive $28,000 from AARP, which it will use to construct pickleball courts at Lewis Park on Eighth Street in Wheatland. According to Wheatland officials, there are better than 100 pickleball players in town, ranging in age from 20 to 83. That group struggled to find a place to play last year when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the indoor facility, and that led to pickleball players making their own courts using sidewalk chalk on a flat concrete surface in front of the local band shell. Unfortunately, there was room for just one court.

With this Community Challenge Grant funding, the Town of Wheatland will repurpose an underutilized area of the City Park. The park will remove seven horseshoe pits (leaving five) and replace them with two outdoor pickleball courts in an area with existing lighting, adjacent to existing restrooms. The Town will also purchase and install two benches outside the perimeter fences. 

Evanston Main Street

Evanston’s $12,550 grant will go towards improving public spaces in downtown, as the Urban Renewal Agency plans to increase outdoor seating with the construction of two swing picnic tables, which will be placed in separate public gathering places. 

“When we saw these swing tables we thought ‘what a fun idea,” says Leslie Lunsford, Board President of the Evanston Urban Renewal Agency. “Who at any age doesn't like to let the worries fade away as you slowly swing back and forth? 

“These swing tables and crosswalk art projects will be a welcome addition to our downtown Main Street community,” adds Lunsford. “Outside sitting and gathering areas is something we've wanted to add for some time and we look forward to seeing this come to fruition with this project.”

The tables will be constructed in-house by the city’s facilities team and volunteers. One side of the picnic tables will be a solid bench, while the other side will have swings with the ends being open to allow for wheelchair accessibility. The construction will also include string lighting so the picnic tables can be used in the evening.

The second deliverable for the grant will be the addition of decorative crosswalks across Main Street. The crosswalks will bookend the area where the two swinging picnic tables will reside. The decorative crosswalks will be designed by local artists and volunteers of all ages will be asked to help paint them during a summer or fall event on Main Street when the street is closed off to thru-traffic. The crosswalks will be completed prior to November 2021.

All labor for these projects will be considered in-kind. Local groups such as the senior center, youth groups, and local service groups will assist in decorating the tables between July and November of 2021.

“We are looking forward to working with the Uinta County Senior Center in this project as it will be a great opportunity to partner with them on both the tables and the crosswalks we have planned. Once we have the art stenciled we look forward to seeing new relationships between our seniors and community youth as they work together,” Lunsford says.

About the Community Challenge Grant Program

The Community Challenge grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative which helps communities become great places to live for residents of all ages. As part of this, AARP staff and volunteers are working across the country, engaging and mobilizing residents, delivering technical assistance and expertise to local leaders and organizations, and supporting the work of the 381 communities and four states that have enrolled in the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.  

Past Wyoming Community Challenge Grantees

The Jackson Hole Land Trust was awarded a $10,250 grant from AARP in 2020 to provide benches in downtown Jackson. The Land Trust will partner with local artists and AARP’s Age Friendly Jackson, to purchase and install at least three locally-made benches. The benches will be located on The Block, a 1.3 acre of downtown greenspace that was recently preserved by the Land Trust. The Block will also include 100-year-old Cottonwood trees, ADA pathways through the greenspace. The Block is on the same street as a local assisted living center, and one block from the Jackson Town Square.

The Cokeville Senior Citizens Center is receiving $25,000 in 2020 Challenge Grant funds to improve walkability as well as the ability for citizens to access the town’s Senior Center. The grant is part of nearly $47,000 in community improvements, which will also include increasing access to the Cokeville City Park’s pavilion and restrooms, by adding ramps to each. The Cokeville project will include improvements to crumbling concrete, the addition of ramps, and replacement of a raised deck in the courtyard at the Senior Center, which will allow those with wheelchairs, walkers, or canes to take part in outdoor activities at the center. 

In 2019, The North Main Street Association in Sheridan was granted $11,700 to fund a new gazebo, picnic table and nine benches along the North Main Trail. Meanwhile, The Jackson Hole Community Pathways project was awarded a $14,440 grant to help make downtown Jackson a more enjoyable space for the age 50+. Jackson Hole Community Pathways used the money on a design workshop to solicit input from those age 50 and over on downtown walkability, amenities, and activities. Pathways is also coordinating with Cycling Without Age and Teton Adaptive Sports for two Trishaw bikes that will provide rides to seniors around town. 

In 2018, AARP’s Community Challenge program funded projects in Laramie and Rock Springs. In Laramie, a grant of $20,000 to fund a new fully accessible community garden to increase access to healthy food, multi-generational learning opportunities, and support a culture of health for all people living with mobility and disability challenges. In Rock Springs, a $5,000 grant has funded a mural to be prominently displayed in Downtown Rock Springs, which will depict the hard work and sacrifices of local miners and railroad workers.

In 2017, two Wyoming communities – Casper and Jackson – were awarded Community Challenge Grants. In Casper, the grant provided a safer and more convenient bus stop behind the city’s east side Albertsons at 2625 East Second Street. In Jackson, a similar bus stop was replaced in an area which was cluttered with weeds, a broken down vehicle and other trash in an underserved area of the community. A bench was placed on the site and age-friendly signage entices low-income seniors, disabled individuals, and young families to use the bus system.

The Community Challenge grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which helps communities become great places to live for residents of all ages. View the full list of grantees and their project descriptions at www.aarp.org/communitychallenge and learn more about AARP’s livable communities work at www.aarp.org/livable.

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About AARP

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media.