Since 2006, the Community Challenge Grant Program has empowered residents and local organizations to improve Anchorage’s parks, trails, and public greenspaces through community-led projects. Offered every two years by the Anchorage Park Foundation with support from Rasmuson Foundation, the program expands access to public lands, strengthens outdoor recreation, and builds long-term stewardship of shared spaces. Challenge Grant projects highlight the wide range of ways communities have come together to restore, enhance, and activate public spaces across Anchorage.
The program delivers a strong return on investment for the community. $2.4 million in seed funding has leveraged more than $8.4 million in total community investment, including volunteer time and donated materials, generating approximately $3.50 in community impact for every $1 invested. Many Challenge Grant projects are later expanded through Youth Employment in Parks crews and voter-approved municipal park bonds, multiplying their long-term impact and helping ensure Anchorage’s public spaces remain welcoming and inclusive for all.
2026 – 2027 Community Challenge Grant Awards
The Anchorage Park Foundation awarded $311,000 to 14 community-led park and trail improvement projects across the Municipality of Anchorage, recognizing the community members who will bring these projects to life. This milestone year marks an important expansion of the program. For the first time, almost half of the 2026 Community Challenge Grant projects are outside of the Anchorage bowl, benefiting public lands and communities in Anchorage, Girdwood, Chugiak, Eagle River, and Chugach State Park.
“Expanding the Community Challenge Grant program to benefit more people and parks is a big step forward,” said Beth Nordlund, Executive Director of the Anchorage Park Foundation. “By investing in projects across more communities, we’re supporting stewardship of the landscapes that define Anchorage and empowering more community partners to care for the places they love.”
Thank you to Rasmuson Foundation, the Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department, and the Anchorage Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for partnering with the Anchorage Park Foundation on this grant program.
