2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
What is the Vance Avenue Collaborative (VAC)? 1
Origins of the Planning Process 2
The Vance Avenue Planning Process 2
A Short and Glorious History of the Vance Avenue Neighborhood 4
A Snapshot of Current Conditions in the Vance Avenue Neighborhood 5
Census Data 10
Resident Perceptions of Existing Conditions and Potential Development
Opportunities 13
A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis 17
The Overall Structure of the Vance Avenue Neighborhood Plan 18
An Overview of the Vance Avenue Comprehensive Revitalization Action Plan 20
Vance Avenue Neighborhood Revitalization Action Signature Projects 24
Where We Go From Here? 27
How You Can Help 28
Joining the Campaign 28
Participating Organizations 29
For More Information about the Vance Avenue Collaborative (VAC) 30

3. WHAT IS THE VANCE AVENUE COLLABORATIVE (VAC)?
Vance Avenue Collaborative (VAC) is a coalition of faith‐based organizations, social service agencies, public
schools, resident associations, and area businesses serving the 38126 zip code, also known as the Vance
Avenue Neighborhood or the South of the Forum District. The collaborative was launched by leaders of
Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church who were concerned about the impending displacement of long‐time
residents resulting from the city’s proposed redevelopment of Cleaborn Village. After securing community
organizing and planning assistance from the anthropology and city planning programs at the University of
Memphis, parish leaders contacted others who believed that Vance Area could be transformed into a
vibrant residential neighborhood by building upon the community’s many assets. Among these assets are
its central location within the city and region, its many landmarks including Clayborn Temple, Robert
Church Park, and Booker T. Washington High School. During the past year, a network involving more than
fifteen community‐based organizations have formed a working group committed “to preserving the Vance
Area’s many historic strengths by expanding educational, economic, housing, and cultural opportunities
for current and future residents in a more vibrant, sustainable, safe, and equitable urban environment”.
Fig. 1
1

4. ORIGINS OF THE PLANNING PROCESS
The Vance Avenue Collaborative was established in July of 2009 when Reverend Timothy Sullivan O.S.P.,
invited leaders of more than a dozen local institutions to come together to discuss their concerns regarding
the area’s future. The majority of these leaders believed the transformation of Cleaborn Village, and
eventually Foote Homes, into mixed‐income housing complexes using Federal HOPE VI funds, would lead to
massive displacement of long‐time public housing tenants and the destabilization of many of the area’s
anchor institutions, such as the Emanuel Center, First Baptist on Lauderdale, Saint Patrick and Booker T.
Washington, which have served these residents for decades.
Shortly after forming the Vance Avenue Collaborative, local leaders committed themselves to creating a
comprehensive revitalization plan building upon the neighborhood’s many assets. They also secured the
assistance of two graduate assistants from the University of Memphis’ Graduate Program in City and
Regional Planning and the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development to assist with
various outreach, organizing, and planning tasks. The collaborative established the boundaries for the study
area ‐ South 3rd Street as the western boundary, Beale Street as the northern boundary, East Avenue as the
eastern boundary and Crump Boulevard as the southern boundary. Additionally, to expand the base of non‐
partisan support enjoyed by the plan, they decided to undertake the production of the Vance Avenue Plan
in as highly participatory manner as possible. To accomplish this, they worked with U of M, UT, Rhodes, and
Virginia Tech faculty to involve more than 150 undergraduate and graduate students in collecting the
volumes of social, economic, and environmental data needed to prepare an empirically‐based and socially‐
inspired district‐level plan.
Fig. 2 Fig. 3
THE VANCE AVENUE PLANNING PROCESS
During the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters, volunteers from Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church along
with students from the University of Memphis carried out the following research in order to understand
the historic trends that shaped this once‐vibrant neighborhood and to develop a detailed profile of existing
conditions within the neighborhood. Among the activities these individuals completed were:
2

5.  An examination of historical studies, plans, and reports describing the evolution of the Vance
Avenue neighborhood;
 Selective interviews with area elders to elicit their description and evaluation of the most
important historical trends affecting the neighborhood;
 A review of population and housing trends based upon the U.S. Census;
 Semi‐structured interviews with local institutional leaders regarding their assessment of current
conditions and future development opportunities;
 Semi‐structured interviews with local residents regarding their assessment of current conditions
and future development opportunities;
 Focus groups with often hard to reach community residents including: youth, area service
providers; and senior citizens;
 A parcel‐by‐parcel inventory and survey of existing land uses, building conditions, and site
maintenance levels;
 Set‐up of a listening‐post display at the Annual Health Fair and Neighborhood Festival to gather
additional resident input on the evolving Planning Framework for an Improved Vance Avenue Area.
 The forging of a representative Steering Committee to assume leadership during the data analysis,
goal setting and program development phases of the planning process.
The people power required to carry out the above mentioned research activities was provided by local
volunteers and students and faculty from the University of Memphis, the University of Tennessee Medical
School, Rhodes College, Virginia Institute of Technology, and Regional AmeriCorps volunteers. The planning
framework that follows is the result of input provided by representatives of more than twenty‐five local
organizations and more than two hundred local residents who were kind enough to participate in the
Vance Avenue Collaborative planning process
Fig. 4
3

6. A SHORT AND GLORIOUS HISTORY OF THE VANCE AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD
There is creditable evidence to suggest that the Vance Avenue Neighborhood was once home to a
significant tribe of Mississippian Indians in the period before 1500. The reason for the disappearance of
these First Americans from the area prior to European settlement is not fully understood; however, most
explanations focus on resource depletion. The neighborhood’s more modern history begins in the mid‐
1800s, when wealthy Memphians built homes along the Beale Street and Linden and Vance Avenues. South
Memphis was incorporated into the City of Memphis in 1850 and remained a popular residential area until
the late 19th century. As Memphis emerged from the Yellow Fever epidemic, which ravaged the city in the
1870s, it became a major cotton and lumber production area, agricultural transshipment center, railroad
transportation node and retail and financial center.
By the early 20th century streetcars had made new residential development possible to the east of
downtown, in what is today Annesdale Park and Central Gardens. As residents moved into these new
neighborhoods, the large, stylish homes in the Vance neighborhood were turned into boarding houses to
accommodate the growing numbers of workers employed by the city’s rapidly expanding port, downtown,
railroad, and manufacturing firms. The construction of Lamar Terrace and Foote Homes public housing
complexes in the early 1940s dramatically reduced the area’s total population while increasing the
percentage of local families living below the poverty line. Large‐scale clearance related to the operation of
the Federal Urban Renewal Program created large vacant spaces. The combined effects of
deindustrialization, suburbanization, and disinvestment took an additional toll on the neighborhood. By the
1960s, court‐ordered school busing and social unrest caused by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. further prompted long‐time residents to leave the area, transforming the Vance Avenue Neighborhood
into a majority African American neighborhood.
While municipal officials and leaders of the Center City Commission made frequent references to the need
to revitalize the area, little concrete action was taken until the 1970s when the city entered into an
agreement with local business and a development corporation along Beale Street to redevelop this storied
entertainment corridor, that serves as the study area’s northern border. In the 1990s, local investors took
advantage of the renewed interest in downtown development that was taking place across the country.
They worked with local, state, and Federal officials to bring significant redevelopment to the Vance Avenue
Neighborhood’s northwestern quadrant with the development of the Westin Hotel, Gibson Guitar Factory,
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the FedEx Forum home to the Memphis Grizzlies.
While these mega development projects were taking place, smaller scale redevelopment was underway
often through the efforts of local religious congregations. The COGIC Church built a magnificent new
cathedral as their international headquarters featuring a new worship center, educational facility, health
and fitness center, and social services complex. Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church constructed a new K‐6
Jubilee School, a Community Center offering educational and human services and ten new single‐family
affordable housing units. Streets Ministry, using land donated by the Progressive Baptist Church, erected a
state of the art youth athletics and learning center heavily used by area youth. Meanwhile, First Baptist
Church on Lauderdale’s Mustard Seed Local Development Corporation began offering local residents
courses in financial literacy and homeownership.
In 2008, the City of Memphis’ Division of Housing and Community Development commissioned Self‐Tucker
Architects to create a vision to guide future municipal government investment in the area. The City’s
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7. recently completed Triangle Noir Plan seeks to redevelop Cleaborn Village and Foote Homes using Federal
Hope VI Funds while enhancing several of the Memphis Housing Authority’s remaining family and senior
housing complexes. In the fall of 2009, Robert Lipscomb, Director of the Division of Housing and
Community Development invited representatives of the Vance Avenue Collaborative to join forces in
creating an updated redevelopment plan for the area. While the Collaborative welcomed the opportunity
to do so, city officials have yet to focus on the task.
The Community Profile and Preliminary Planning Framework that follows summarizes a solid year of data
collection and analysis and planning and design work by neighborhood residents and leaders supported by
VAC’s student and faculty team.
A SNAPSHOT OF CURRENT CONDITIONS IN THE VANCE AVENUE
NEIGHBORHOOD
The Vance Avenue neighborhood is located directly southeast of the city’s Central Business District. The
area is comprised of nearly one hundred blocks laid out in a modified grid pattern. The vast majority of the
neighborhood benefits from good soil, excellent drainage, and modest slopes making it a highly suitable
location for a wide range of low, medium, and high density development projects.
Map 1: The Vance Avenue neighborhood is located directly southeast of the city’s Central Business District.
It area comprised of nearly one hundred blocks laid out in a modified grip pattern. The vast majority of the
neighborhood benefits from good soil, excellent drainage, and modest slopes.
5

8.
Map 2
Map 3
6

9. Long‐term disinvestment has made vacant land and abandoned buildings the area’s leading land uses,
followed by residential housing, institutional/community facilities, commercial establishments, and
industrial/warehouses. While vacant and underutilized land and buildings represents a significant
challenge, it also represents an important asset as the economy begins to recover and energy conscious
developers and consumers look for development sites within walking distance of the Downtown.
Map 4
The majority of Vance Avenue Neighborhood buildings are constructed of brick and masonry materials,
which in spite of their age and deferred maintenance are in good condition. While a significant number of
structures, especially those located within Cleaborn Village and Foote Homes are experiencing varying
degrees of deterioration, few structures within the study area are dilapidated. Two historic structures that
residents are most concerned about are Claeaborn Temple, the main organizing site of the 1968 Sanitation
Workers’ Union Strike, which is in need of immediate stabilization and the Universal Life Insurance Building,
which was the international headquarters of the nation’s largest African American owner casualty company
and is also in need of immediate stabilization.
7

10.
Map 5
An examination of exterior property conditions illustrates the high level of pride that local owners have in
maintaining their properties. The overwhelming majority of building lots have been recently cleaned and
mowed. Additionally, a significant number reveal recent investment in basic landscaping, screening, and
fencing. On the other hand, several residents have expressed concern with areas adjacent to the MHA
controlled neighborhoods, such as properties along Orleans and Fourth Street, which have experienced
recent decline in the form of abandonment, structural deterioration, and an overall lack of cleanliness.
8

11.
Map 6
Despite the very modest income of most area homeowners and the limited resources of many of the
neighborhood’s community‐based institutions, an examination of local structures reveals a significant
number that have benefitted from recent improvements, most of which have been self‐financed.
Map 7
9

12. While the Vance Avenue Neighborhood currently has a considerable amount of publicly controlled open
space, much of it with mature tree coverage, little of it has been improved. Despite the large numbers of
seniors and children living in the study area for whom daily exercise is a requirement to maintain overall
health and fitness, there is a dearth of well maintained, and supervised public recreational spaces.
CENSUS DATA
Total Population
Like many older residential neighborhoods located adjacent to Downtown Memphis, the Vance Avenue
Neighborhood lost approximately 17% of its population between 1990 and 2000. More than 98% of the
remaining residents are African American. One third of these individuals reside in the neighborhood’s two
largest public housing complexes while the remainder of the population lives in a combination of single‐
family and low‐rise private sector housing.
Table 1
Educational Attainment
The Vance Avenue Neighborhood has one of the lowest educational attainment levels in the City of
Memphis. 58% of those over the age of 25 lack a high school diploma, 30% are high school graduates, and
10% have completed some college, while only 3% have completed a four‐year college degree. The
neighborhood’s extremely low educational attainment level makes it very difficult for local residents to
secure living wage jobs. An examination of residents’ occupational status reveals that most local workers
are concentrated in jobs within the secondary labor force where wages are low, benefits limited, and job
security unknown.
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13.
Table 2
Median Household Income
Low educational attainment levels and service sector jobs explain why Median Household Incomes among
Vance Avenue Neighborhood residents were one quarter of those within the City of Memphis as a whole
and one fifth those of Shelby County residents making this area one of the least well resourced in Western
Tennessee and the Mid‐South.
Table 3
Poverty Rate
The Vance Avenue Neighborhood is, by any measure, one of the poorest residential areas in Memphis and
Western Tennessee. The persistent poverty that characterizes the neighborhood demands a
comprehensive revitalization effort that addresses educational, child and family development, health care,
11

14. public safety, job training, small business assistance, housing and energy conservation, leadership
development and local institutional capacity building initiatives.
Table 4
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15. RESIDENT PERCEPTIONS OF EXISTING CONDITION AND FUTURE
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Over the course of several weeks in March, 2010, resident volunteers, assisted by university students and
faculty hit the streets and conducted door‐to‐door survey interviews with approximately 170 residents in
the Vance neighborhood (about 10% of the population). The 11‐page survey asked questions about
residents’ likes, dislikes, and improvement proposals. Subsequently, we asked them to rank the quality of
services in the area, including: health, educational, social, public, and economic and job development
services. A summary of the findings follows.
What Residents like most about the Vance Avenue What Residents liked Least about Vance Avenue
Neighborhood Neighborhood
• The people and neighborly environment • Trash and litter
• Close to Downtown, FedEx Forum, schools • Crime, Drug Dealers, Shootings, and
• Quiet Violence
• Affordability of housing • Vacant Houses
• Local churches and social service • Traffic
organizations (Emanuel Center, Saint • Noise
Patrick, Mustard Seed, Streets Ministries) • Children running around with nothing to do
• Bus system • Poorly maintained houses and apartments
• Police patrols and sense of security
Improvements Residents Would Most Like to See in the Vance Avenue Neighborhood
• Renovated houses
• Increased housing choices
• More law enforcement
• A major grocery store
• Bringing people together to build a stronger sense of community
• More, cleaner, and nicer parks and recreational areas
• Cleaner streets and better maintained lots
• Improved sidewalks and lighting; repair potholes
• More recreational opportunities for children and youth
• Increase number and availability of drug and alcohol treatment programs
• A Community Center
• Decrease domestic violence, increase in police protection
• Services and activities for the elderly
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16.
Table 5
Table 6
14

17. In a series of questions about the quality of public services in the Vance Avenue Neighborhood, residents
were relatively satisfied. In particular, 40% of respondents ranked the Fire Department as excellent; 56%
ranked the police as fair to good; and street lighting and garbage pickup was seen as good by 46% of
respondents.
The overall cleanliness of the area was a concern for residents, with approximately 40% of respondents
rating the cleanliness of streets, lots, and parks as poor or very poor. Additionally, 35% of residents ranked
the safety, cleanliness, and equipment at parks as poor. Their suggestions for improving the parks included:
keeping them clean, installing better swings and slides, picnic tables, enhancing security, and adopting
better lighting.
By far the most frequently mentioned improvement to public services were increased police protection;
better public transportation‐ more buses that run with greater frequency (esp. on weekends); repair of
sewage overflows; and street repairs.
Table 7
During the course of the survey we asked residents about their current housing situation and potential
future needs. 92% of the residents surveyed currently rent their homes, but many expressed a desire to
own a home. Approximately 65% of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their current housing.
15

18. Importantly, residents identified temporary housing for the homeless and alcohol and drug treatment as
two services that were desperately needed, but currently un‐available. Additionally, they noted that there
are not enough health and social services available to seniors and youth.
Resident responses indicated that they received medical care from a range of sources, including the Med,
area hospitals (Baptist, Methodist, St. Jude, St. Francis and UT) and area clinics and health centers (Church
health Center, Memphis Health Center, Christ Community, Wellington, Southwest Orange Mound Health
Clinic, Memphis Health Loop, and the Health Department , to name only a few). Despite ranking health
services as good overall, residents identified several important gaps in health and wellness services. These
included the need for additional HIV testing and prevention, more care for seniors, health education on
diabetes, obesity, stroke, heart disease, and STD prevention, and drug and alcohol treatment.
Additionally, the survey inquired about how residents felt about local schools from Pre‐K to College as well
as adult education programs, such as GED classes. The residents consistently rated these as good, but also
suggested that there was room for improvement. Some of their suggestions included: improved
infrastructure and more teachers, make schools safer, increase availability of GED programs, increase
availability of tutoring and other educational afterschool opportunities, increase parental involvement, and
improve the local library.
When asked about where they went for everyday shopping needs, such as: groceries, pharmacy, laundry,
and clothing, the majority of residents indicated that they were able to acquire these things either in the
neighborhood or in nearby shopping centers on Union or Poplar or in South Memphis. When asked what
goods and services were under or un‐available, they noted that there was still a need for a grocery store,
clothing stores, dollar store, pharmacy, and bank in the local area.
Most important outcomes or improvements residents would like to see emerge from the VAC plan:
• A cleaner, safer neighborhood
• More services for the homeless
• Improved housing options for current residents of Cleaborn and Foote
• More opportunities and activities for children and youth, esp. after school and summer
• More community involvement
• More jobs
• More shopping options
• Better community/police relations
• More and improved parks and green spaces
• Honor community’s history and cultural heritage
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19. STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS (SWOT) ANALYSIS
An S.W.O.T. analysis is a simple graph which displays the community’s Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats. This information was gained through the various methods discussed above. The
SWOT helps us indentify areas of focus for specific improvements.
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20. THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE VANCE AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
During the fall and winter of 2009, Vance Avenue Neighborhood residents and leaders met on a regular
basis with our university partners to analyze the social, economic, and physical data that we had been
collected. In March of 2010, a cross section of community residents participated in an all‐day Neighborhood
Summit to explore alternative revitalization strategies and to select an overall development goal and set of
specific improvement objectives designed to advance the following resident‐identified community‐building
values.
 Excellence in public education;
 Access to high quality affordable housing;
 Availability of job training and placement;
 Expansion of employment and entrepreneurial opportunities;
 Comprehensive youth services and programs;
 Improved public safety and community/police relations;
 Coordination of comprehensive social services and case management supports;
 Right of all to transportation alternatives (walking, biking);
 Removal of barriers to regional health care services; and
 Continue support for expanded citizen participation and resident empowerment
Following several hours of discussion, the assembled Vance Avenue residents and leaders chose the
following overall development goal to guide the future development of their neighborhood.
To transform the Vance Avenue Neighborhood into the city’s most
culturally diverse and economically vibrant mixed‐use community
distinguished by its excellent public schools, employment and
entrepreneurial opportunities, quality housing options, support for
children and families, emphasis upon health and wellness, commitment
to green building, design and living, continuation of civil and human
rights advocacy, and commitment to cooperative problem‐solving and
collaborative decision‐making.
Residents then identified the following objectives to enable them to achieve their overall development
goal:
1) Attack the mounting health crisis confronting local residents and communities by providing
universal access to basic health education, wellness, and primary care:
2) Enhance the real and perceived level of public safety through the development of an expanded
community policing program to compliment the MPD’s Blue Crush initiative;
18

21. 3) Pursue public school excellence by transforming our local schools into 24‐hour community school
center facilities committed to elevating the educational level of all neighborhood residents;
4) Expand employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for local residents through community
benefit agreements with publicly assisted development projects especially in the Downtown,
Fairgrounds, and Riverfront Districts of the city;
5) Increase the number and type of housing available within the neighborhood through the adaptive
re‐use of existing housing, construction of new in‐fill housing, and provision of special needs
housing for seniors and the other‐abled built in a manner that minimizes future energy
consumption;
6) Provide a range of transportation alternatives to neighborhood residents, especially those with
few private transit options – i.e. youth, the elderly, and the other‐abled;
7) Connect to the extraordinary artistic and political culture of the historical Vance Avenue
Neighborhood to remind current and future residents, especially children that they possess
individual agency and collective power; and
8) Identify, train, and nurture the next generation of neighborhood leaders capable of providing
ongoing stewardship to the Vance Avenue Neighborhood’s ongoing community empowerment
activities.
During two meetings organized in April of 2010, more than seventy –five community residents came
together and generated a list of more than one hundred and thirty specific policy, program, and project
proposal idea s designed to enable the Vance Avenue Neighborhood to achieve significant progress
towards these improvement objectives. After generating these suggestions in what President Obama has
referred to as “blue sky” brain storming, residents reduced this list to a set of forty‐five initiatives to be
carried out during the coming seven years on a developmental basis starting with modest “low hanging
fruit‐type” projects progressing to more ambitiously‐scaled initiatives. Using the following three point
decision‐making schema residents placed their projects within a phasing plan on the next page.
Immediate Term Short-Term Long-Term
Years 1-2 Years 3-5 Years 6-7
Needed Staff Use of current Additional volunteers Additional volunteers
volunteers and part‐time staff and full‐time staff
Required Funding Less than $25,000 per Less than $200,000 per Less than $1 million per
project required project project
Outside Technical None Modest level of planning Ongoing technical
Assistance Needed and program assistance required from
development assistance an experienced national
TA provider, such as LISC
or Enterprise
Community Partners
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22.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE VANCE AVENUE COMPREHENSIVE REVITALIZATION
ACTION PLAN
Immediate-Term Short-Term Long-Term
(Years 1-2) (Year 3-5) (Years 6-7)
Public Health and -Organize a full range of -Work with area -Establish a Bill W Hotel
Wellness local 12-Step Programs medical, dental, social providing emergency
-Create and distribute a work, and public health services, transitional
local human services schools to establish a housing, employment
directory cooperative clinic opportunities, and
-Promote the utilization providing primary care ongoing case
and replication of the to needy individuals management services
Saint Patrick and families. for chemically
Community Garden -Create a community- dependent
-Establish a Flo Jo Lives based substance abuse and homeless men,
Walking Club at Robert prevention, intervention, women and children
Church Park and treatment program
-Implement a Safe in collaboration with
Routes to School area medical schools
Program to increase and professional
walking and biking to associations, the U of
school M Social Work
-Organization of a Program, and leaders
health care summit of the local 12-Step
involving local Community
medical/dental school
Arts and Culture -Create The Peoples’ -Redesign Robert -Transform the vacant
Gumbo Healthy and Church Park as Clayborn Temple into a
Low Cost Cookbook Memphis’ version of museum celebrating
-Oral History Initiative Millennium Park African American
-Social History Mural celebrating the family and community
Project city’s rich economic, life and
-Organization of an social, musical, and culture
annual spring art sports history.
exhibition and talent -Identify an existing
show featuring local facility or design and
talent to be offered build a new facility to
during African in April showcase the
considerable artistic
talent that exists within
the community
-Research, design and
execute a major urban
design effort to
enhance the
appearance of local
streets, parks,
playgrounds and
other public spaces in
the community.
20

23.
Public School -Enhance achievement -Construct a state-of- -Transform Booker T.
Excellence through service- the-art public library Washington into an
learning serving individuals of all leadership academy
-Expand Streets ages with a special focused on community
Ministries’ College commitment to organizing, planning,
Preparatory Program innovative reading development; and
-Establish a local programs and adult management; re-
Dunham Dance literacy programs organize the space as
and Drumming -Take steps towards a community school
Academy as an after establishing a historic center providing space
school program for non- preservation trades to worthwhile non-profit
athletes school in cooperation organizations
-Challenge the local and with Memphis Heritage
regional high schools, and the U of M to
universities, public prepare students to
agencies, private stabilize and restore
corporations and historic structures and
churches to organize statuary in their
Literacy Summer 2011 community and across
to reduce adult literacy the country
by 50% within the City
of Memphis and Shelby
County
Social Service -Expand job training/ -Development of an up- -Development of a
Provision adult literacy efforts to-date local social national training
-Establish local services services directory institute to promote
for special needs (paper and on-line) faith-based
children -Press for a linkage organizing, planning,
-Create a non- program that would development, and
violence mediation and require new downtown service delivery.
conflict resolution investors/developers to -Organize a youth
program teaching youth provide job mentorship connecting
a variety of creative opportunities to the every middle schooler
problem-solving unemployed living on with a caring adult who
methods for use at 08126 zip code is committed to their
home, school and in the development
community
Public Safety -Community/police -Develop an ambitious ‐Work with MPD and
relations compact community policing the PBA to organize
-Establish foot and bike program complimenting a police-sponsored
patrols Blue Crush Young Explorers
-Organize neighborhood -Work with local judges Program
watches to pursue alternatives -Establish a restorative
-Initiate a home and to incarceration for justice project requiring
business fire safety and first-time offenders who offenders to provide
security inspection commit non-violent meaningful community
program crimes service to address the
-Explore group buying of -Insure that future negative
fire safety and anti-theft buildings constructed consequences of their
devices and/or rehabbed in the actions
Vance area follow the
principles of Crime
Prevention Through
Environmental Design
(CPTED)
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24.
Economic -First Source Hiring at -Establish a robust -Recreate Vance Ave.
Development Hope VI sites educational program for Corridor between
-Community Benefits new entrepreneurs South Main Street and
Agreements for city- as well as capital Danny Thomas as a
assisted projects financing and regional Afro-centric
(Downtown, Waterfront, mentoring resources mixed-use center
and Fairgrounds) -Create a community -Establish an incubator
-Work with Rise based re-entry program space to support the
Foundation to organize for ex-offenders. development of new
a financial literacy -Press the major businesses.
program in the institutions within the
Downtown Medical District to
-Support residents who establish specialized
individually and job training programs
collectively wish to build area youth and adults
businesses aimed at as a local PILOT-like
improving healthy foods program
access -Lobby the City to
-Develop a green jobs establish a buy-local
training program on a program and small
joint basis by SWTC, U business assistance
of M, Christian Brothers effort to create new jobs
and the MCS to prepare through local
the workforce that will purchasing thereby
retrofit existing building plugging a significant
to make them more income and wealth
energy efficient leak from the local
economy
Affordable Housing -Improve local code -Develop a center for ‐Plan and build a new
enforcement independent living for mixed-income, LEED
-Expand homeowner those who are ND master planned
assistance programs differently abled to community based upon
-Create resident include housing, Traditional Design
oversight committee to assisted living, and principles within the
insure good transitional employment services. Vance Avenue Area
services for Cleaborn -Expand the size and that provides 1 for 1
Village residents improve the replacement of the
-Encourage the local management of the deeply-subsized public
land bank to acquire Section 8 Voucher housing units which the
vacant land and Program neighborhood will lose
buildings for future -Encourage the City and through the HOPE VI
development assuring County to work with Program
affordability the city’s major -Work with local
employers to develop a churches to create
Employer Assisted attractive new senior
Housing Program housing for aging baby
where workers choosing boomers who are
to living in targeted housing and
stabilization commuting weary and
neighborhood would eager to take
receive better mortgage advantage of the city’s
terms due to the many urban amenities
willingness of their
employers to create a
loan guarantee fund a
la the UPENN
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25. Public Transportation -Organize a competition
for the design of striking
bus shelters that
convey a sense of the
neighborhood’s history,
culture, and vitality
-Connect area youth with
college volunteers who
will help them construct
bikes at the
Revolutions Bike Shop
at First Congregational
Church
-Organize a major
neighborhood clean-up
to encourage residents
to more effectively use
the neighborhood’s
open spaces
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26. VANCE AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION ACTION PROJECT
SIGNATURE PROJECTS
Among the proposals local residents were most excited about were the following signature projects.
Vance Avenue Community‐Based Arts Project ‐ This effort would reconnect local residents, regardless of
age, to the extraordinary tradition of progressive education, creative excellence, and civil rights
accomplishment of the Vance Avenue Neighborhood. This community‐based arts initiative would involve
youth, adults, and seniors in the research, writing, production, and presentation of art, music, dance, and
performances celebrating the historic and contemporary contributions of people of color to the
educational, cultural, political, and business life of Memphis, the Mid‐South and the nation. Among the
many inspirations for this effort are the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Weeksville Historical Center in
Brooklyn, the Philadelphia Mural Project and the Katherine Dunham Center for Arts and Humanities in East
St. Louis, Illinois.
Pictures from the Philadelphia murals project
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27. The Bill W Hotel ‐ This new facility will provide single room occupancy rooms, congregate activity areas,
coordinated case management services, and small business spaces where former homeless men and
women can work. Names after Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, this full service center will
offer comprehensive health, counseling, nutritional, employment, and housing services for homeless men,
women, and children who are struggling to achieve sobriety, mental health, and a positive and productive
place in our community. Every aspect from the location and design of the structure to the organization and
provision of services will be designed to inspire and uplift those seeking services.
Pictures from the Covenant House
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28. The King Academy Community School Center ‐ Located at the former site of the Universal Life Insurance
Company will be organized as a middle and high school and community center. The school will promote
excellence in teaching and learning through an experientially‐based education in which students at all levels
will develop new knowledge and skills while assisting nearby community‐based organizations in the
planning and implementation of critical organizing, planning and development projects selected by local
residents. This facility will also house the community groups with which the skill is working, such as
Advance Memphis, the Vance Avenue Collaborative, and the NAACP. The overall philosophy of the school
will be based upon Dr. King’s ideas of non‐violence and passive resistance. Administrators, faculty,
students, staff, parents, and community members will be trained in the basic concepts on non‐violence
resistance as a practical philosophy and set of community problem‐solving skills.
Pictures from the Harlem Children’s Zone
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29.
Memphis Global Village Corridor ‐ The establishment of a new regional commercial center offering goods,
products, and services from around the world, including: Africa, Central and South America, and Asia.
Vance Avenue from South Main Street to Danny Thomas will be transformed into an inspired commercial
corridor evocative of South Beach’s Lincoln Road and 125th Street in Harlem. The proposed corridor will
offer unique arts, crafts, foods, film, and fashion celebrating the best of emerging cuisine, arts, fashion, and
literature from around the world. The Corridor will be developed to be that special place that area
residents and visitors travel to in order to purchase unique presents for those most special in their lives and
hearts.
Pictures from the Lincoln Road Mall
The Robert Church Entrepreneurship Center ‐ This facility will be developed in cooperation with Advance
Memphis, Southwest Tennessee College, the University of Memphis, and the Chamber of Commerce to
assist would‐be entrepreneurs to design and implement new business ventures that will expand the
availability of quality goods and services within the City of Memphis and surrounding communities while
creating new living wage jobs and strengthening the local economy through this “import substitution
based” economic development project.
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
This Preliminary Framework represents the best effort of members of the Vance Avenue
Collaborative Steering Committee and our university partners to capture local residents’ and
stakeholders’ future hopes and desires and to translate these into a workable plan to transform our
community. While every effort has been made to insure that this document accurately reflects the
will of the people, this is a very difficult thing to do! During the next three months, a small Writing
and Editorial Committee will be preparing a complete draft of the Vance Avenue Revitalization
Action Plan. We welcome your comments on how we can produce the best possible plan based
upon this preliminary framework and your additional input.
Over the course of the next nine months, the Vance Avenue Collaborative will be involved in the
following activities in order to secure the formal adoption of this plan by the city.
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30.  May-August Production by the Writing and Editorial Committee of the Draft of the
Vance Avenue Revitalization Action Plan
 September Organization of a Community Plan Review Meeting to enable local residents
and stakeholders to review, comment upon, and make final changes in the
document
 October Present a resolution to the Memphis City Council asking them to direct the
staff of the Office of Planning and Development to work with the Vance
Avenue Collaborative and The University of Memphis in preparing a
comprehensive revitalization plan for our neighborhood (This is a formality
to overcome the Council’s current moratorium on neighborhood plans
prompted by their desire to adopt the Uniform Development Code as an
overall policy framework upon which district/neighborhood plans can be
evaluated.
 November With the support of the Office of Planning and Development and a positive
Vote from the Memphis City Council, we will present our plan to the City of
Memphis/Shelby County Land Use Control Board in order to secure their
formal endorsement.
 December With the formal endorsement of the City of Memphis/Shelby County Land
Use Control Board, we will return to the Memphis City Council to secure
their formal endorsement of our plan.
 January – on We will work with public and private sector partners in the city, region, state,
and nationally to secure the funds needed to fully implement the major
elements of this plan.
It is important to note that while the Collaborative has been very busy developing this plan, it has
also been involved in three immediate improvement projects. In March of 2010, members of the
Collaborative worked with local residents, business owners, and AmeriCorps volunteers to conduct
a major clean-up and removal of illegally dumped trash near the intersection of Lauderdale and
Vance Avenues. In March, members of the Collaborative also worked with volunteers from Saint
Patrick Learning Center, GroMemphis, and the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center to establish a
lovely community garden at the corner of Linden and Lauderdale. Finally, in April members of the
Collaborative helped organize a Spring Festival and Health Fair at Foote Homes which involved
nearly a dozen local service providers and approximately 300 residents.
While preparing the final draft of the Vance Avenue Neighborhood Revitalization Plan and working
to secure local, state, and federal government support for this effort, members of the Collaborative
will continue to look for opportunities to bring local residents and leaders together to take
immediate action to advance the goals of our plan.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
 Volunteer to review this Preliminary Framework and to provide the writing team with
additional input;
 Serve as a liaison between the Vance Avenue Collaborative on a local congregation, civic
association, or neighborhood group of which you are a member; and
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31.  Join the Steering Committee of the Vance Avenue Collaborative to provide ongoing
organizing, planning and development direction to this ongoing community-building and
development effort.
JOINING THE CAMPAIGN
During the coming months, you can support the ongoing effort to improve, adopt, and
implement the Vance Avenue Revitalization Action Plan by contacting one of the following
individuals:
Father Timothy Sullivan, OSP
Pastor
Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church
S. 4th and Pontotoc Streets
Memphis, TN 38126
timsullivan@stpat.cdom.org
Anne Stubblefield
Chairperson
Saint Patrick Community Center
S. 4th and Pontotoc Streets
Memphis, TN 38126
stubblefielda@yahoo.com
Kenneth M. Reardon
Professor and Director
Graduate Program in City and Regional Planning
The University of Memphis
210 McCord Hall
Memphis, TN 38152
901-678-2610 (Office)
607-274-7402 (Cell)
kreardon@memphis.edu
Katherine Lambert Pennington
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Manning Hall
The University of Memphis
Memphis, TN 38152
901-678-3328
almbrtpn@memphis.edu
PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
Black Business Owners Association
NAACP
Clover Nook for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Vance Middle School
Booker T. Washington High School
Center City Commission
Mid-South Peace and Justice Center
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32. Georgia Avenue Elementary School
JIFF
Saint Patrick Roman Catholic Church
The University of Memphis
Advance Memphis
Emanuel Center
Memphis Urban Ministries
Memphis Grizzlies
Streets Ministries
MIFA
First Baptist Church Lauderdale
Mustard Seed
Workers Interfaith Network
Church Health Center
Temple of Deliverance C.O.G.I.C.
Porter Boys and Girls School
Inner City Outreach Church
Muhammad Mosque #55
Omni Charter Schools
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE VANCE AVENUE COLLABORATIVE
Visit the Community Projects section of the Graduate Program in City and Regional Planning at:
www.memphis.edu/planning or call 901-678-2161.
Or view one or more of the following You Tube reports produced by local newscasters and The
University of Memphis: fwix.com/memphis/article/.../the_vance_avenue_collaborative;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZTJ0g1i_gE&feature=channel; and
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZTJ0g1i_gE
Finally, you may read one of the following articles on the Vance Avenue Collaborative’s Work:
www.midsouthpeace.org/GrowMemphis/Gardens.html;
www.stpatsmemphis.org/Events/tabid/.../Vance-Avenue-Cleanup.aspx;
www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=23407
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