AARP awards Community Challenge grant to Preservation Buffalo Niagara

Grant will be used to beautify & support community of Grant Street in Buffalo

Preservation Buffalo Niagara has been named a recipient of a 2020 AARP Community Challenge grant; one of six grantees selected in New York.

The grant will be used to engage four stakeholder organizations from the West Side of Buffalo to undertake beautification efforts, including installing culturally diverse and multilingual flags and wayfinding signs down the length of the Grant Street corridor to highlight the unique and diverse character of the Grant Street corridor, and purchasing garbage receptacles for small businesses and property owners to improve public health and wellness of area residents.

“We are so grateful that AARP chose to support Grant Street as this important historic corridor works to recover from the impacts of COVID-19 19 and retain its status as a vibrant commercial hub for the West Side of Buffalo," said Jessie Fisher, executive director of Preservation Buffalo Niagara. "We are excited to work with business owners and community members on needed signage and beautification projects."

This project is part of the largest number of Community Challenge grants to date with more than $2.4 million awarded among 184 organizations nationwide. Grantees will implement “quick-action” projects to create more livable communities across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All projects are expected to be completed by Dec. 18, and are designed to achieve one or more of the following outcomes:

√ Create vibrant public places by improving open spaces and parks and activating main streets.

√ Deliver a range of transportation and mobility options by increasing connectivity, walkability, bikeability, wayfinding, and access a wider range of transportation choices.

√ Encourage the availability of a range of housing by increasing accessible and affordable housing solutions.

√ Increase civic engagement and demonstrate the tangible value of “Smart Cities” by bringing together local leaders and residents from all backgrounds to address challenges.

√ Support coronavirus response and recovery efforts by ensuring older adults’ access to information, essential services, and civic life.

“We are incredibly excited to support Preservation Buffalo Niagara as they work to make immediate improvements in Buffalo, encourage promising ideas and jumpstart long-term change,” shared Beth Finkel AARP NY state director. “Our goal at AARP NY is to support the efforts of our communities to be great places for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities and the coronavirus pandemic has only underscored the importance of this work.”

Other New York grantees include United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region, Friends of Mosholu Parkland in the Bronx, LISC of Western New York, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and the Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany. The full list of grantees can be found at www.aarp.org/communitychallenge.

The Community Challenge grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which helps communities become great places to live for residents of all ages. View an interactive map of all of the Community Challenge projects and AARP NY’s livable communities work at www.aarp.org/livable.

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age.

Preservation Buffalo Niagara was established in 2008. Built on the more than 30-year history of our predecessor organizations, the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier and the Preservation Coalition of Erie County, PBN is committed to bringing resources and results that ensure historic places thrive for generations to come. PBN identifies, protects and promotes unique architecture and historic legacy, and connects people to the places they love in Western New York. To learn more, visit www.pbnsaves.org or follow @pbnsaves on Instagram or @PreservationBuffaloNiagara on Facebook.