Two Milwaukee projects awarded AARP Wisconsin grants to make the city more livable for all ages

MADISON, WI – Today, AARP Wisconsin announces that the City of Milwaukee has received two 2023 Community Challenge Grants – part of the largest group of grantees to date with $3.6 million awarded among 310 organizations nationwide.

The two Milwaukee projects will receive a combined $32,000. They are two of six grants awarded across the state to projects that will receive a combined $84,300. Other Wisconsin grants were awarded to the cities of Altoona, La Crosse, River Falls and Stevens Point.

“AARP Wisconsin is committed to working with local leaders to improve residents’ quality of life through tangible changes,” said AARP Wisconsin State Director Martha Cranley. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements in their communities to jumpstart long-term change, especially for Wisconsinites age 50 and over.”

With its $20,000 grant, the City of Milwaukee’s Redevelopment Authority plans to support community outreach for the “Growing MKE” initiative, which will amend the city’s comprehensive plan and update zoning to reduce barriers that interfere with development of housing for older adults.

With its $12,000 grant, the City of Milwaukee’s Department of Public Works plans to create a traffic calming lending library, giving residents the power to try out traffic safety designs on their street so they can understand which options would most effectively address their concerns.

AARP Community Challenge grant projects will be funded in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. True to the program’s quick-action nature, projects must be completed by November 30, 2023.

This year, the AARP Community Challenge accepted applications across three different grant opportunities, including existing flagship grants in addition to new capacity-building microgrants for improving walkability and community gardens. New demonstration grants will focus on improving transportation systems.

This is the seventh year of the grant program. Wisconsin communities that have received grants in previous years include: Appleton, Ashland, Bayfield, Beaver Dam, Berlin, Chilton, Cuba City, Deer Park, Ellsworth, Gays Mills, Green Bay, Greendale, Goodman, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Sheboygan, Spooner and Viroqua.

Here are details of the other four grants awarded to Wisconsin projects this year:

City of Altoona – With its $10,000 grant, the city will hold an accessory dwellings unit design competition to promote their use as a housing solution. The competition will include an open house and presentations of design concepts to help educate builders and the broader community about ADUs.

City of La Crosse – With its $20,000 grant, the city’s parks, recreation and forestry department plans to revitalize a frequently used route and make it more accessible to residents age 50-plus by adding improvements such as a new crosswalk with art, a covered bus shelter and seats, light posts with decorative banners, and other amenities.

City of River Falls – With its $10,000 grant, the city will fund safety improvements at a major intersection and demonstrate traffic calming interventions such as high-visibility crosswalk markings and an auditory response system.

City of Stevens Point – With its $12,300 grant, the city will install five age-friendly benches at selected transit stops, all of which have a high degree of usage and are situated along major transportation corridors.

View the full list of grantees and their project descriptions at aarp.org/communitychallenge and learn more about AARP’s livable communities work at aarp.org/livable.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.