Mississippi

AARP Mississippi Now Accepting 2024 Community Challenge Grant Applications

Published

4 months ago

January 12, 2024

The annual program aims to make communities in Mississippi more livable for people of all ages

JACKSON, Miss., Jan. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — AARP Mississippi invites local eligible non-profit organizations and governments across the country to apply for the 2024 AARP Community Challenge grant program, now through March 6 at 4:00 p.m. Central. AARP Community Challenge grants fund quick-action projects that help communities become more livable by improving public places, transportation, housing, digital connections, and more. Now in its eighth year, the program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for all residents, especially those age 50 and older.

“AARP Mississippi is committed to working with local residents, advocates, and policymakers to make our communities better places to live for people of all ages,” said AARP Mississippi State Director Kimberly L. Campbell, Esq. “The Community Challenge has proven that quick-action projects can lead to long-term change, especially for Mississippians 50 and over.”

The AARP Community Challenge accepts applications across three different grant opportunities. All projects must be consistent with AARP’s mission to serve the needs of people 50 and older along with other eligibility criteria.

Capacity-building microgrants are paired with additional resources, such as one-on-one coaching, webinars, cohort learning opportunities and more for improving walkability, bikeability and implementing safe, accessible home modifications.
Demonstration grants focus on improving digital connections to prepare and respond to disasters; reconnecting communities divided by infrastructure; and housing choice design competitions.
Flagship grants support projects that improve public places; transportation; housing; diversity, equity and inclusion; civic engagement; community health and economic empowerment; and new this year, community resilience; and digital connections.

“AARP is committed to meeting the needs of a rapidly aging population in communities across the country,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer. “The Community Challenge aims to be a catalyst for action in cities, towns, and rural areas through quick-action community improvements that benefit people of all ages and abilities.”

Since 2017, AARP has invested $16.4 million toward 1,370 projects – including 19 in Mississippi – with nonprofit organizations, and government entities across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands through the Community Challenge. The program provides direct support to all community types, including rural, suburban and urban communities with a special focus on the needs of those 50 and older.

AARP Mississippi works in collaboration with communities across the state, bringing people together, and providing resources and expertise to help make Mississippi’s counties, towns and cities great places to live for people of all ages.

The Community Challenge is open to eligible nonprofit organizations and government entities. Other types of organizations are considered on a case-by-case basis. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for small, short-term activities to tens of thousands for larger projects.

The application deadline is 4:00 p.m. Central, March 6, 2024. All projects must be completed by December 15, 2024. To submit an application and view past grantees, visit www.AARP.org/CommunityChallenge.

About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation’s largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ronda Gooden
[email protected]
601-209-1812

SOURCE AARP Mississippi

Source link

Click to comment

Mississippi

Report: Mississippi River’s St. Cloud watershed sees progress, ongoing threats

Published

1 hour ago

May 22, 2024

Press Room

Report: Mississippi River’s St. Cloud watershed sees progress, ongoing threats

A new report finds a Mississippi River watershed northwest of the Twin Cities shows signs of improving water quality, but still faces challenges.

The Mississippi River-St. Cloud watershed northwest of the Twin Cities drains parts of seven counties, including fast-growing Wright and Sherburne.

About 40 percent of the land in the watershed is agricultural. There are also 374 lakes and more than 900 miles of rivers and streams.

“It’s a very dynamic watershed, and one that contains four of the fastest growing communities in the state of Minnesota either within or on the edge,” said Phil Votruba, watershed project manager with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone – free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

The St. Cloud stretch of the Mississippi River is designated as wild and scenic and is popular for recreation, including canoeing and fishing. St. Cloud is the most upstream city to draw its drinking water from the Mississippi.

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency first monitored the watershed in 2009. A decade later, a second round of monitoring found some hopeful signs.

“It’s a watershed that we have really made good strides positively going forward from the previous cycle,” Votruba said. However, “we stepped back in a few areas as well,” he said.

Eight lakes and streams are no longer on the state’s list of impaired waters, and 17 lakes are showing positive trends, Votruba said. The overall health of fish and macroinvertebrates has improved.

But the watershed still faces threats, including the loss of shoreline buffers and habitat to development, and excess levels of phosphorus, sediment and bacteria due to runoff from farms and urban areas.

One of the biggest challenges, Votruba said, will be to manage growth and agriculture in the watershed to protect rivers, lakes and groundwater as much as possible.

The MPCA is accepting public comments on the report until June 12. A virtual public meeting is scheduled for 9-11 a.m. Thursday.

Source link

Mississippi

Mississippi Power disaster directors prepare for 2024 hurricane season

Published

8 hours ago

May 21, 2024

Press Room

Mississippi Power disaster directors prepare for 2024 hurricane season

GULFPORT, Miss. (WDAM) – Administrators at Mississippi Power are getting ready for hurricane season.

Tuesday, disaster directors from across the Mississippi Power service area gathered at the company’s Operations Center in Gulfport to go over their response plans for the 2024 tropical storm season.

“We continually refine our plans, we strive to be a learning organization,” said Stephen Schruff, storm director for Mississippi Power. “So today is about sharing some learnings from last year that we’ve incorporated, discuss any gaps we have and work together as a team to improve those gaps. And then, we’ll have some learnings that we’ll take back to our teams and share as we prepare for hurricane season.”

About three dozen people took part in the annual meeting.

They say they are ready to meet customer needs after a hurricane and are hoping customers are also focused on staying safe if a storm strikes.

“In the event of a storm, I would tell [our customers] to always go out to our website, look at our outage map and make sure that they’re keeping up with the outages and continue to communicate with us,” said Cedrick Hurd, division manager at Mississippi Power. “But when we’re out and about, I would also encourage them to stay away from any downed power lines, stay away from any trees, because a lot of that stuff is dangerous, and just make sure they’re making the right contact to us to take care of that.”

The Gulfport Operations Center opened in 2008.

Want more WDAM 7 news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

Source link

Mississippi

Hurricane evacuation maps, resources for lower Mississippi counties

Published

15 hours ago

May 21, 2024

Press Room

Hurricane evacuation maps, resources for lower Mississippi counties

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) – Staying prepared and informed is the first step when it comes to keeping you and your family safe during hurricane season.

Below are some important resources Coast residents should be aware of.

Mississippi Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) hurricane preparedness guide, which includes evacuation tips, routes, radio coverage areas, important contacts and more.
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency’s (MEMA) hurricane preparedness information, including a hurricane guide, disaster guide, preparedness tips and more.
View Harrison County’s evacuation zone map HERE.
View Jackson County’s evacuation zone map HERE.
View Hancock County storm preparedness information HERE.
View Stone County’s storm preparedness information HERE.
View Pearl River County’s risk map HERE.

Know of a resource you think should be added to this list? Send an email to producers@wlox.com with more information.

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE.

Source link