Read more stories of acts of kindness in the November/December 2025 feature.
When a one-block stretch of Roosevelt Drive off Lincoln Avenue wanted to connect with a larger neighborhood association in 2024, it turned to the district next door. The response? “‘Come on board!’” Vann Park Neighborhood Association Vice President Emily Parker recalls saying. “We were thrilled to have them come over.”
The East Side district may encompass 40 blocks around Vann Park, but its boundaries hardly stop there. Through festivals, movie nights, and acts of kindness to passersby, VPNA has made a name for itself as a welcoming place.
Running through Vann Park, competitors with the Rotary Club’s annual Santa Run race past motivational notes written in sidewalk chalk and can break for cocoa and cookies at a pop-up stand. A Little Free Pantry stocked with dry and canned goods and several Little Free Libraries dot the neighborhood. A small group meets at the park each morning to practice meditation. Walkers out for a stroll can enjoy red ribbon-wrapped light poles and lit-candle luminarias around Christmas, and are encouraged to snip colorful zinnias grown in a resident’s yard in summer. Neighbors Fest has grown to a park-filled fall gathering of vendor and nonprofit booths, face painting, and games.
“You don’t have to live right here to enjoy everything that’s right here,” says Parker, a Vann Park resident for 11 years. “It’s not, ‘We’re doing our thing, and you’re doing your thing.’ We want everybody to feel welcome.”
That level of community engagement started at home. In 2020, six residents gathered around Mike and Jessica Wilson’s dining table to solve a problem: Vann Park was beautiful, but nothing was happening there. Grassroots efforts to embrace connectivity gained traction during the COVID-19 pandemic: Residents organized an Easter egg scavenger hunt, partnered with the city to host one evening of Music in the Park, and joined forces with Christ the King School at Annunciation Parish to hold events. The inaugural Easter egg hunt showed Parker that “we still could do something simple but powerful.”
Neighbors Fest launched in 2021 with around 10 vendors and now offers 40 vendors, pumpkin decorating, a coloring station, and a sensory-friendly area. That initial Neighbors Fest made an impression on Amanda Benson, who joined VPNA the same year. “We want people to meet their neighbors. They’ll be your best resource to ensure you’re safe. They’ll look out for you, and you’ll look out for them,” says Benson, who this year is serving as the association’s president.
Built on the Wilsons’ initial drive to make things “happen,” neighbors are engaging — VPNA has 11 residents serving as board members and draws about 20 people to its monthly neighborhood meetings. A sign of the association’s engaging reputation throughout Evansville is the city’s support for a plan to build a pavilion at Vann Park to host movies, live music, and private parties.
Parker says the association is buttressed by a “blend of ages and backgrounds and expertise,” but, most of all, a shared attitude and belief in the mission, she says: “We are a true team.”
