2025 AARP Community Challenge - New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition

Golden Paths and Generational Bridges in Newark: AARP Community Challenge

The New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition (NJBWC) received a 2025 AARP Community Challenge grant—a quick-action grant designed to make communities more livable for residents of all ages, especially those 50 and older. The grant supports projects that improve public spaces, transportation, housing, digital connections, and community resilience.

AARP believes that great communities take a long time to build and sustain. But they also believe that quick, tangible actions can be the spark for long-term progress. This grant supports NJBWC in taking quick, tangible steps that spark long-term progress—bringing seniors’ voices into mobility conversations, fostering connections across generations, and bridging gaps between transportation modes—ensuring a more inclusive and connected mobility landscape in Newark.

If you’re a Newark resident or organization and want to help shape this resident-centered initiative, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to get involved.

Why Newark?

Newark’s 50-plus residents have seen their city transform—its streets, transportation systems, and neighborhoods evolving over time. Their lived experiences provide valuable insight into mobility challenges and opportunities, yet they are often excluded from discussions on infrastructure and active transportation planning. Despite making up 18-19% of Newark’s population, their mobility needs are frequently overlooked in decision-making.

Seniors have shared concerns about the changing transportation landscape, from the introduction of bike lanes and e-scooters to the lack of safe cycling infrastructure. These shifts impact safety, mobility, and overall perception of active travel, sometimes creating tension between different modes of transportation.

With major infrastructure investments—such as The Greenway (formerly Essex-Hudson Greenway), the North Jersey Trail Network Initiative, and the City of Newark’s BikeNewark Plan—shaping the city’s future, now is the time to ensure seniors’ voices are heard. Through this initiative, NJBWC is actively engaging Newark’s older residents, capturing their perspectives and ensuring their experiences help shape these projects from the start, rather than as an afterthought.

Laying the Groundwork for Long-Term Change

This initiative is more than just mobility planning—it’s about honoring lived experiences, strengthening community connections, and laying the groundwork for a Newark that works for everyone.

We’re taking thoughtful, community-centered steps to build engagement and awareness with Newark’s 50-plus population through:
✅ Pop-Up Events in All Five Wards – Bringing mobility conversations directly to seniors in familiar community spaces.
✅ Listening Sessions & Storytelling – Capturing firsthand experiences to inform future mobility decisions.
✅ Interactive Mapping – Using large-scale maps to visualize existing and planned connections while gathering direct input from seniors.
✅ Intergenerational Collaboration – This is a truly Newark-centered effort, and we’re excited to be partnering with Media Girls, a leadership subgroup of Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, working in partnership with staff at the Girl Scouts Leadership Center in Newark. These remarkable young women will co-lead interviews and listening sessions with seniors—bridging generations, preserving Newark’s cultural memory, and helping inform more equitable mobility solutions.

Building Stronger Community Connections

We are actively strengthening key community partnerships to ensure the success of this initiative while supporting ongoing efforts that uplift seniors in Newark. We are working with senior groups to ensure that mobility conversations reflect the needs, challenges, and aspirations of Newark’s 50-plus community.

By collaborating with local organizations, advocacy groups, and youth-serving partners like the Media Girls at Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey—and actively working to engage the City of Newark, we are creating inclusive spaces where seniors can share their experiences, engage in meaningful discussions, and contribute to active transportation planning that prioritizes accessibility, cultural preservation, and safety.

Project Timeline & Expected Outcomes

The AARP Community Challenge grant requires completion by December 15, 2025, ensuring this project creates immediate, visible impact while fostering lasting mobility change.

The project will conclude by compiling audio and video recordings of seniors’ insights into a digital archive, ensuring their perspectives remain part of Newark’s mobility narrative long after the events conclude. To celebrate, the project will conclude with a local watch party honoring the contributions of both youth and seniors.

Join Us!

🔄 Project Updates – Check back here for the latest on upcoming events, progress highlights, and how to stay involved as the initiative evolves.

🚶🏿‍♀️🧑🏾‍🦼 Want to be part of this effort? Whether you’d like to share insights, support outreach, collaborate on events, or contribute in another way, we welcome all who are passionate about uplifting Newark’s seniors and shaping mobility conversations.

📩 Let’s connect! Email Tiffany.Robinson@njbwc.org to explore ways to get involved.

🔗 Stay Updated – Follow us @NJBWC, subscribe to our newsletter, and join the conversation as we work toward a Newark that moves for everyone.