2025 AARP Community Challenge Grantees

Now in its ninth year, the AARP Community Challenge is awarding its largest number of grants ever.

The 2025 AARP Community Challenge is supporting 383 projects, with a focus on meeting the needs of adults age 50 or older, through $4.2 million in quick-action grants.

Since its launch in 2017, the AARP Community Challenge has funded 2,100 grants, investing $24.3 million in 45,000 tangible improvements (such as park benches, crosswalks, bike racks) and more than 8,000 community-based programs, including digital skills training and transit education for older adults.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• With an investment of nearly $2 million, 45 percent of this year’s funded projects are in rural communities, marking the AARP Community Challenge’s largest rural investment to date.

• This year’s highly competitive process drew 3,460 applications from nonprofits and local governments.

• Some of this year’s pedestrian safety initiatives are being funded with support from Toyota Motor North America. The projects that expand high-speed internet access and adoption are funded with support from Microsoft. (Follow the sidebar link for the Capacity-Building Microgrants list to learn more.)

• Past grantees have shown the positive impact small projects and low-dollar investments can have. For instance, 50 percent of grantees attracted additional funding after receiving an AARP Community Challenge grant. Nine out of 10 (or 87 percent) say the AARP Community Challenge helped them overcome policy or financial barriers. All grantees report increasing their community’s awareness of livability issues.