History
The Village Movement started with Beacon Hill Village in Boston, and today there are more than 250 operating Villages and more than 100 in development in 43 states and the District of Columbia. The Villages are grassroots, community-based organizations formed through a cadre of caring neighbors who want to change the paradigm of aging. Each Village is a unique, non-profit, volunteer organization.
2013Village Volunteers began operations with a handful of volunteers as the nonprofit Greater Lewes Community Village. In 2015, already growing, GLCV hired its first paid employee, Executive Director Jackie Sullivan. In 2019, having expanded into Rehoboth Beach and Milton, the organization changed its name to Village Volunteers. By the summer of 2020, the Village had grown to more than 260 members served by more than 140 volunteers - an extended family of support for some of our most vulnerable neighbors.
May 2019Jackie Sullivan, Executive Director of Village Volunteers, made presentations explaining the objectives of Village Volunteers to the Lord Baltimore Women’s Club and then to a group of interested citizens at St. Martha's Church in Bethany Beach.
September 2019-March 2020A core group of volunteers, which evolved into the Steering Committee, met regularly, adopting the name South Coastal Village Volunteers. Village Volunteers offered support and advice to help the fledgling group get started.
March 2020-June 2020The group changed meetings to Zoom and continued to make organizational plans despite the pandemic. Publicity in The Coastal Point helped to let the community know about the organization and its goals. The expertise from Village Volunteers was invaluable as the Steering Committee worked. July 2020South Coastal Village Volunteers signed a Collaboration Agreement with Village Volunteers, becoming a branch to operate under VV’s 501(c)(3) as a non-profit organization. A signing ceremony was held at the Village Volunteers’ office in Lewes. Becoming a branch of Village Volunteers allowed SCVV to move quickly, bringing much needed services to the community. It eliminated the need to gain approval for its own IRS Approved 501 (c)(3) status and Tax ID Number (EIN). Funding organizations such as Delaware Community Foundation and Longwood Foundation support this type of collaboration as it provides economies of scale in terms of both financial outlay and elimination of redundancies of infrastructure and administration.
August 2020–October 2020South Coastal Volunteers Steering Committee members received orientation and training on the Village Volunteers’ operations and computer systems.
November 2020-January 2021South Coastal Village Volunteers opened their office at 32 West Avenue in the Ocean View Town Hall. Training and mentoring by Village Volunteers continued and SCVV began recruiting volunteers and members.
January 11, 2021South Coastal Village Volunteers enrolled their first member and began to offer services.
January 26, 2021The Bethany Fenwick Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony at the SCVV office to mark the official start of operations for SCVV.
