Age-Friendly Oxford finishes installing 2 of 3 ‘chat benches’ in local parks
Jennifer Heston-Mullins said the organization expects the third bench, which will be located somewhere Uptown, to be installed before the end of the grant, Dec. 15.
Age-Friendly Oxford unveiled its first two of three “chat benches” designed to help people make social connections in public spaces on Oct. 14.
The organization received a 2026 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Community Challenge grant of $13,200 through its fiscal agent, Oxford Seniors, to “make tangible improvement in communities that jumpstart long-term change,” according to Jennifer Heston-Mullins, administrative coordinator of Age-Friendly Oxford.
Heston-Mullins said the idea for the benches came to the organization a few years ago when they were trying to figure out ways to get people to interact with each other at events like Red Brick Fridays and other summer festivals happening at the Uptown Parks.
“There are people who sometimes don’t go because they don’t have anyone to go with, or they don't know who they’ll talk to when they get there,” Heston-Mullins said. “We had a group of volunteers that said, ‘You know what, we would love to chat with people and make people feel welcome.’”
The organization began putting blue covers over benches and tables at Uptown events and placing signs next to them with questions and conversation prompts to get people talking. They’ve also been invited to hold chat benches at other local organizations’ events, like the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast.
Heston-Mullins said sometimes younger people would sit on the benches and interview each other using the questions, and some people would sit down and wait for someone else to join them in conversation. If no one else sat down, a volunteer would join and begin the conversation.
“Social isolation and loneliness is a big thing for older adults as people lose the ability to drive,” Heston-Mullins said about why opportunities for intergenerational connection are needed.
“They are maybe not able to be as connected to their communities, but it’s also just about as big (of) an epidemic … for younger people,” she said. “So we have found that it’s good for … people of all ages.”
Age-Friendly Oxford advocates for accessible features throughout the community so people can engage more, Heston-Mullins said, including projects like the installation of the bathroom in Uptown Parks and the expansion of public transportation and public information.
“Anything we can do to help people fully enjoy the community, we want to advocate for that,” Heston-Mullins said.
Using the grant, with help from workers with the City of Oxford, the organization has already installed two benches: one a half-mile off the Oxford Area Trails section near the Peffer Park parking lot at the 4.2 mile marker and another at the end of the Helen S. Ruder Preserve Boardwalk next to Barkham Park, which was introduced to the public during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 14.
Representatives from Age-Friendly Oxford, Oxford Seniors, the City of Oxford and AARP Ohio pose during a ribbon-cutting at Helen S. Ruder Preserve Boardwalk for a chat bench that was recently installed on Oct. 14, 2026. Jennifer Heston-Mullins, administrative coordinator of Age-Friendly Oxford, and Ty Pine, manager of outreach and advocacy for AARP Ohio, talk about the chat bench, one of three to be installed around the city. Photos by Katelyn Aluise.
The benches are wooden, each with a signpost behind them with a corkboard where a list of conversation-starter questions are pinned. Volunteers with Age-Friendly Oxford will change out the prompts every week through the end of November, when the AARP grant ends. After the winter season, when everyone begins returning to the outdoors, Heston-Mullins said the organization will devise a new plan for when and how they’ll switch out the prompts.
“We’re so grateful,” Heston-Mullins said of receiving the grant to install the benches. “It’s a wonderful example of how the community comes together. We don’t have a budget. … We got the grant. We have the idea. We needed partners to help us execute that.”
She said this includes expanding on and drawing attention to the work already completed by the Three Valley Conservation Trust to preserve the land and make it accessible.
Heston-Mullins said the organization applied for the grant in May, and only 750 grantees were chosen this year out of 5,100 applications. Oxford was one of 24 locations given grant funding across the State of Ohio.
Ty Pine, manager of outreach and advocacy for AARP Ohio, said during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, “We’re partnering with local communities to improve what is going on for the community, and whether you’re 8 or 88 … this is a great project.”
Heston-Mullins said the organization expects the third bench, which will be located somewhere Uptown, to be installed before the end of the grant, Dec. 15.
