AARP Connecticut has selected nine recipients for its sixth Livable Communities Grant Program dedicated to fund quick-action projects in Connecticut communities that will help make immediate improvements or jump-start long-term progress that will support residents. AARP Connecticut has funded 38 projects since the inception of the program in 2018.

AARP Connecticut launched the Livable Communities Grant Program, a local expansion of the national AARP Community Challenge initiative, to provide nonprofit organizations and municipalities in Connecticut with up to $5,000 for projects that aim to help neighborhoods, towns and cities become great places for people of all ages.

The program is open to incorporated organizations that are 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofits and Connecticut municipalities who seek to make improvements in their neighborhood or community in Connecticut.

The 2023 recipients are Bloomfield Senior Services, Colt Park Foundation (Hartford), East Lyme Senior Center, Fairgate Farm (Stamford), Friends of Newtown Seniors (FONS), Thames Valley Council for Community Action (New London County), UR Community Cares-Cycling Without Age Manchester Home Base Project, Wethersfield Historical Society, and Windsor Historical Society.

This year’s grant will help FONS educate older adults about safety in the home as part of their aging in place initiative. Funds will be used to purchase sample devices designed to make a home safer as well as the purchase and installation of safety equipment where financial need has been established.

Projects can range from small, short-term activities to larger, permanent solutions, but they must be completed within 12 months of receiving the funding. Grant applications were evaluated for projects in Connecticut with a focus on improving the lives of those 50+ and making a positive impact within one of the following eight Domains of Livability: outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, work and civic engagement, communication and information, and community and health services.

While AARP Connecticut’s Livable Communities Grant Program is only open to Connecticut towns and nonprofits, AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative funds projects in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands.

AARP announced in June that it will fund 310 projects across the country in 2023, including five in Connecticut, as part of its seventh annual AARP Community Challenge grant program. More than 1,000 have been funded since the grant program began in 2017.

AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative also provides resources and publications to encourage local action such as the Roadmap to Livability and the AARP book-series Where We Live: Communities for All Ages. To learn more about AARP’s Livable Communities’ work in communities across the country visit aarp.org/livable.