As a descendant of Mississippi sharecroppers that made their journey to The Ville, one of St. Louis’ legacy Black neighborhoods, Catherine Knights has called seven STL neighborhoods home throughout her lifetime, though she is choosing to call Vandeventer home.

The Ville has been home to legendary people and institutions, such as Sonny Liston, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, the Homer G. Phillips hospital, and is the birthplace of Catherine Johnson, now Mrs. Catherine Knights.

Her journey from The Ville, took her through St. Louis neighborhoods like Cochran Projects-Cochran Garden, Laclede Town, Central West End, West End, Wells-Goodfellow, and now she calls Vandeventer neighborhood her forever home. Continue reading to learn why Catherine has chosen to call Vandeventer home for the past 45 years, and why she plans to for the rest of her days. 

“The Vandeventer neighborhood is a prime location to live in due to its proximity to everyday essentials that a family would need, space that businesses can operate within, and access to recreational opportunities,” according to Catherine.  

The St. Louis City neighborhood was founded in the 1870s, and is currently home to 2,000+ people.

Catherine shared with Invest STL that she could move elsewhere such as Seattle, where her husband, a doctor of 30 years, resides. Perhaps she would have chosen a place with less harsh seasons. That would allow her to be out and about more as someone with more mobility needs than she once had, but she doesn’t see herself ever leaving Vandeventer.

Having nice neighbors that look out for each other is one of the reasons that Catherine loves her neighborhood, along with having shade trees in her yard to shield from the St. Louis summer sun.

Catherine’s favorite thing about Vandeventer, other than her neighbors and beautiful yard, is the historic and memory-filled home that she has owned and invested love and care into for 45 years. 

When it comes to neighborhood involvement, Catherine is no stranger to her neighbors or her neighborhood.  

Catherine shared, “When I moved to the house in 1979 I immediately sought out the community organizations and joined SLACO almost at its founding in 1980. I have been a member ever since.  

I’ve served on neighborhood organizations and block units continuously as a member and officer. I am now Secretary/Treasurer of the Vandeventer CDC. 

Beginning in the late 1990s we wrote the original North Central Plan. Beginning in 2019 with the financial support of the Deaconess Foundation we revised, and got the plan approved and adopted by the St. Louis City government. It is the current North Central Plan of comprehensive development for Vandeventer, Covenant Blu and Grand Center.” 

When Catherine is not doing things with her neighbors, she is tending to neighborhood needs – not just for the people she calls neighbors, but the animals she calls neighbors as well! As Catherine is the self proclaimed cat lady of her neighborhood! 

Catherine shared that she doesn’t like the way that Black neighborhoods are portrayed in St. Louis from the news and other media outlets. She believes that, “People need to have positive learning to have an opinion on a place,” which is part of why Catherine and her neighbors, Barbara Murphy, Yvonne Carter, and Judith Arnold applied for the Small Dollars Action Fund, a funding opportunity provided by Invest STL and SLACO that has been designed to provide funding that activates neighbors to connect and engage with one another.  

Their neighborhood collective were awardees of the Small Dollars Action Fund in the fall cycle of 2023.

To learn more about The Small Dollars Action Fund please visit this link. The SDAF will open again in January, so there is some time to take a look around and get a couple of your neighbors together to plan your spring activities now. Check our website or email sdaf@investstl.org for any questions regarding when the cycles are open and closed. 

The Invest STL team is appreciative of the time, energy, and storytelling that Mrs. Catherine shared with us. Her stories, background, and a glimpse into why she chooses Vandeventer help enrich our understanding of community and home. 

For more information on how you can get involved in Vandeventer please visit the Vandeventer CDC website, and stay up to date with what is going on in Vandeventer by connecting with their page on Facebook. 

Want to get active in your neighborhood, but not sure where to look? Check out the neighborhood map located in our Neighborhood Toolbox.