{"id":320794,"date":"2026-06-26T16:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/320794\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T16:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T16:37:10","slug":"aarp-grants-to-central-florida-organizations-for-community-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/320794\/","title":{"rendered":"AARP grants to Central Florida organizations for community projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Eight organizations across Central Florida, Volusia County and the Space Coast have received grants from AARP for projects<\/a> aimed at making communities safer and more livable.<\/p>\n

AARP announced that the local organizations received 2026 Community Challenge grants as part of a nationwide program funding quick-action projects.<\/p>\n

The Central Florida-area projects include pedestrian safety improvements, public Wi-Fi, transportation support, disaster preparedness training, technology classes for older adults and improvements to public spaces.<\/p>\n

The local grant recipients include College Park Main Street in Orlando, the City of Fellsmere, the City of Lake Helen, the City of Longwood Public Works Department, Helping Seniors of Brevard, Senior Resource Alliance Area Agency on Aging of Central Florida, St. Cloud Main Street and United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties.<\/p>\n

College Park Main Street will use its grant to create two curb-level parklets that replace on-street parking with accessible seating and pedestrian buffers.<\/p>\n

In Longwood, a busy residential street will receive high-visibility crosswalks, curb ramps and pedestrian signage.<\/p>\n

Helping Seniors of Brevard plans to set up a technology library and classroom for older adults, while Senior Resource Alliance will support transportation for adults with dementia and their caregivers.<\/p>\n

United Way of Lake and Sumter Counties will provide disaster preparedness training for older veterans in rural areas, along with radios and emergency kits.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities across Florida are eager for real solutions that boost mobility, connection, and quality of life,\u201d said Jeff Johnson, state director at AARP Florida. \u201cThese projects will bring real improvement to Central Florida by improving accessibility, transportation methods, pedestrian safety, and digital literacy across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

AARP said it is awarding more than $8.3 million to 750 projects nationwide this year.<\/p>\n

In Florida, 24 projects received a total of $237,766 through the program.<\/p>\n

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\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Eight organizations across Central Florida, Volusia County and the Space Coast have received grants from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":320795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[96554,147,145,133038,28,30,29,139,29634,19299,144,146],"class_list":["post-320794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-aarp","tag-central-florida","tag-channel-9","tag-community-challenge","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-orlando","tag-senior-resource-alliance","tag-united-way","tag-wftv","tag-wftv-channel-9"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=320794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/320794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/320795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=320794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=320794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=320794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}