Small Grants Make Big Impact Across the Region

Last year, the Elk River Trail Foundation installed five benches along the 73-mile path that stretches from Clendenin to Gassaway in West Virginia. They were a huge hit, says Ken Tawney, the foundation’s president.

“We had elderly folks who would be able to rest, we had people who simply wanted to sit and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the trail and watch the river, watch the wildlife,” he says.

They were so popular, he adds, that the foundation sought—and received—a $5,000 AARP Community Challenge grant to add more benches. The group’s volunteers will install 13 additional benches near several trail communities.

The nonprofit is one of seven West Virginia groups that received 2024 AARP Community Challenge grants, totaling $65,525. The grants fund quick-action projects designed to make communities more livable for residents of all ages. Nationwide, AARP awarded 343 grants totaling $3.8 million this year.

Across the Mid-Atlantic states, the grants will fund everything from improved access to a local recreation center in southwest Virginia to a temporary public art initiative in Washington, D.C., and gardening resources for a community in western Delaware. The projects must be completed by Dec. 15.

Here are a few key projects from across the region.

Upgrades in West Virginia

A second grant in West Virginia for $10,025 will help pay for repairs to a dangerous sidewalk in the New Deal community of Arthurdale, along with other improvements, such as benches and a bike rack, says Elizabeth Satterfield, curator and director of education at Arthurdale Heritage, a preservation group.

“It’s really going to improve our campus and ... make it safer for all people of all ages,” she says.

Staying Cool in the District

In Washington, a $10,000 grant is preparing older residents and people with disabilities for heat emergencies. The city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency is putting on workshops and distributing cool kits—with items such as a neck towel and electrolyte packets—along with flyers, magnets and a 2025 calendar with information about heat emergencies.

Extreme heat “disproportionately impacts people with disabilities [and] the older adult community,” says Rosemary McDonnell, a program manager for the agency.

Slowing Traffic in Virginia

In Roanoke, Virginia, the nonprofit PedalSafe ROA is using a $15,000 grant to test measures aimed at slowing traffic along busy Ferdinand Avenue, which connects a densely populated neighborhood with a community garden, a recreation center and access to the city’s greenway.

It will help make the road safer for pedestrians and cyclists, says board member Tom Carr, a retired city planner. He consulted with residents, who liked the idea of narrowing the street with plastic posts and painting eye-catching murals on the asphalt to highlight crosswalks. The installations are temporary; if they prove effective, Carr says, they will ask the city to make them permanent.

Outdoor Art in Delaware

In Delaware, the Delaware Art Museum is using $15,000 to install eight giant vinyl murals from its Jazz Age Illustration exhibit at outdoor sites, including two at senior living complexes, says Executive Director Molly Giordano.

“It’s fun imagery ... because it’s lively, it’s colorful,” she says, adding that she hopes it will encourage more people to come to the museum.

—Mary Dieter