VECA History Milestones

• The Vollintine Evergreen area developed as a street-car suburb in the 1920’s with housing surrounding small and compact commercial areas.
• The first issue of the Vollintine-Evergreen News appeared in 1970.
• VECA leaders were featured on NBC National News in 1976, as a model neighborhood.
• In 1988, VECA created the Margaret Dichtel Award for neighborhood service to honor VECA’s most prominent founder. Later, VECA created the Borys Award, the Heinemann Award, and the Wilder Award to recognize service to the neighborhood.
• VECA received a grant in 1995 which was used to purchase the Welcome Center, the V&E Greenline, and to rehabilitate over 40 houses. VECA created a nonprofit organization that opened an office and hired staff.
• VECA areas that were over 50 years old became a historical district starting in1996.
• Founded in 1996, the V&E Greenline, an acclaimed rails-to-trails recreation area, attracts people to walk, run, bike, and enjoy nature.
• Anthony Lee’s 2009 poster, hyper-colored, fanciful representation of the historic 1920s housing of VECA captured the intimacy and friendliness of the neighborhood.
• In 2009 economic conditions were such that VECA staff were no longer employed, the VECA office was transformed into a Welcome Center for grassroots work, volunteers took over the work of the organization, and Rhodes College provide students and staff to keep the Welcome Center open during the day.
• In 2010 VECA and its nonprofit merged into a single organization.
• On the first city dumpster day in 2010, VECA collaborated with Memphis City Beautiful and Allied Waste Services to do a cleanup of six streets north of Jackson Ave, and attracted over 200 participants
• In the fall of 2010 VECA residents were surveyed to find out their perceptions of the effectiveness of VECA programs and activities. In 2011 the VECA board will work on a strategic plan using this information.