AARP awards grants to Hawaiʻi organizations to make communities more livable

Organizations on Molokaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi will receive 2022 AARP Community Challenge grants worth $49,500 – part of $3.4 million awarded among 260 organizations nationwide to make communities more livable.

Grantees will implement quick-action projects that help communities improve public places, transportation, housing, diversity, equity and inclusion, digital access and civic engagement — with an emphasis on the needs of adults age 50 and older.

Kealiʻi Lopez, AARP Hawaiʻi State Director, said the grants will help “jumpstart long-term change, especially for kūpuna ages 50 and over.”  

Hawaiʻi projects funded:

• Krause Family Foundation ʻAlana Ke Aloha and Guzeiji Soto Mission Molokaʻi: $11,500 to create an accessible, attractive outdoor community wireless hotspot on Molokaiʻi where kūpuna and other residents can access the Internet and learn digital literacy.

• Hui O Hauʻula: $18,000, to build a walking trail with seating and a mural around a five-acre site for a future community center/resilience hub in Hauʻula that will also serve as an emergency shelter where residents can safely shelter during a hurricane or tsunami.

• Rice Street Business Association: $20,000 to create complete streets, placemaking and public art projects in Līhuʻe. The projects include rainbow crosswalk art, bus shelter murals, wifi hotspots, native street trees and community gardens.

The projects must be completed by Nov. 30, 2022.

This year, AARP is bolstering its investment of affordable and adaptable housing solutions in response to the national housing crisis. With additional funding support from Toyota Motor North America, the program is increasing its support of projects that improve mobility innovation and transportation options.

The grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages. 

Since the Community Challenge Grant program started in 2017, 20 Hawaiʻi projects have received $234,366 to improve and create parks, beautify urban areas, bring mobile and live theatre to the Big Island, encourage bicycle sharing by older residents, make streets safer and generally make communities more livable.