Dive Brief:
- AARP selected 750 “microprojects” that prioritize public spaces and accessibility improvements, pedestrian safety and transit access, aging-in-place housing initiatives and resources for extreme weather events to receive 2026 Community Challenge grants, it announced this week.
- The $8.3 million it allocated in this year’s grantmaking is twice as much as it gave in 2025, the organization said. The expansion is part of its “livable communities” initiative, which aims to support communities in becoming “great places to live for all residents, especially those age 50 and older,” it said in a press release when it opened this year’s grant program.
- The next Community Challenge grants program application period is expected to open in early to mid-January 2027, with applications due by early to mid-March, said AARP Senior External Relations Advisor Madison Daniels.
Dive Insight:
Since 2017, AARP’s Community Challenge grants program has awarded more than 2,800 grants totaling $32.6 million, it said. This has resulted in 55,000 small projects designed to make communities more livable, especially for people over age 50, and more than 12,000 programs such as digital-skills training for seniors.
About a third of the grants went to local governments, with the rest distributed to local nonprofits in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, D.C., said AARP Director of Livable Communities Mike Watson. Nearly half of the grants were awarded to rural communities, he said.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mayor Tim Keller said his city is using its 2026 grant to help seniors make simple changes to their homes that allow them to age in place longer than anticipated. This also helps stabilize the city’s older neighborhoods by limiting turnover in housing as residents age. “This is a huge deal for our community. The notion is our city should really work across your entire lifetime,” Keller said during an event announcing the grants.
The program received a record 5,100 applications this year, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy and Engagement Officer Nancy LeaMond said during the grant announcement event. Grants range from a few hundred dollars to $25,000. Projects must be completed within about six months.
“What sets this program apart is its speed and its direct connection to real community needs. Communities do not have to wait years for results. These projects come to life in just a few months,” LeaMond said. “And we know this approach works. Small, targeted investments often lead to something much bigger. They spark partnerships, drive policy change and reshape public spaces.”
In addition to Albuquerque, the 2026 Community Challenge grant recipients include:
- Charlotte, North Carolina, for workshops and practice rides designed to help older adults use public transit.
- Reno, Nevada, to launch a home-sharing pilot program that connects older homeowners with renters looking for affordable housing.
- And Shawnee, Oklahoma, to help older members of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe prepare for disasters.
