Vida Center among six AARP projects

Six projects to improve communities in Oregon have received grants from AARP.

The organization has announced the recipients of its annual Community Challenge program. Oregon’s grant projects total more than $65,000.

Stacey Triplett, engagement director for AARP Oregon, said this quick-turnaround program fills a gap for many communities.

“Funding that’s local, that’s meant to be flexible, that comes right out within weeks of when it’s been requested is hard to come by,” Triplett pointed out.

The grant program distributed $3.6 million dollars to more than 300 organizations nationwide. AARP selects projects that can be developed quickly. They must be completed by November 30.

Triplett noted one project done in collaboration with the Klamath Tribes will bring a park to an empty lot in the southern Oregon city of Chiloquin.

“They’re really making a lot of investments in their downtown to have that vibrant livable space for folks of all ages,” Triplett observed.

Other grant recipients include the Douglas Public Health Network, which will distribute emergency preparedness materials to older Oregonians in the community; installing a system for people who have hearing problems at the Vida McKenzie Community Center; and pop-up events in East Portland focused on disability and aging resilience.