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WELCOME TO
THE QUEST FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, INC.
The mission of The Quest is to promote social justice concepts and issues. Social justice entails the belief that all individuals should have equal access to society's resources and opportunities and be at all times accorded human dignity. We strive to help people "see, hear, touch, smell and taste" the injustices that burden and dehumanize their neighbors and to offer a vision of a more just social order. We recognize and support the dignity of life in all its forms and promote solidarity with those suffering injustice. The Quest for Social Justice, Inc. is a 501-C3 non-profit organization.
Quest Founders Mary and Greg Speltz
Greg Speltz retired from his position as Assistant to the Director of Catholic Social Services in LaCrosse, WI in 1986. Mary had already retired from teaching high school. Although retired, they had no intention of heading for the rocking chairs. Greg and Mary committed themselves to the cause of social justice. They sold their home and began a journey of full time volunteer work with social service organizations in five states, staying long enough to plant seeds and them move on. The Speltzes arrived in Mobile in 1996 and established a base at the Service Center of Catholic Social Services where they revitalized the thrift shop. Greg started a program he called "Second Wind Ministries". It provided opportunities for energetic retirees to spend the winter months in the south helping the less fortunate while they escaped the rigors of northern winters. The Quest for Social Justice had its beginnings when Greg and Mary began gathering like-minded people in their apartment to address issues of nonviolence, poverty, capital punishment and the School of the Americas. The group decided that an ecumenical organization committed to working for social justice was needed. Greg spent months working on the paper work needed for incorporation and 501 c3 status. By contributing a significant amount of their own money, and obtaining several grants, an office was opened in March 2001at the present location.
Meet the Board of Directors
Vice President John Conrad - - Licensed Certified Social worker
John is coordinator of an employee assistance program at Bayview Professional Associates, a division of Alta Pointe Health Systems. He has worked as a social worker and therapist in Mobile for the past 30 years. John is married to Carol Massengale Conrad. They have one daughter, a junior at Murphy High School.
John Doll-University of South Alabama, Retired
John, a native of Memphis, has lived in Mobile since 1973. Now retired, for 17 years he was the business manager of the Radiology Department at the University of South Alabama. He has been on the Quest Board from its start because he shares his wife's concern for social justice.
Zippy Doll -Director of the Ministry of the Sick for St. Dominic Church
Zippy is a native of Mobile who went to college in Baltimore and then taught for two years in Mobile. She has been Coordinator of Ministry to the Sick at St. Dominic's church for 20 years and on the Quest Board from the beginning because she believes so strongly in social justice.
Lenice Emanuel - Chief Executive Officer of the YWCA of Greater Mobile
Ms. Emanuel has extensive bacground in grassroots community development work. In 1999 she returned home to the Mobile area and served as the director of parental and community involvement for the Mobile Aria Education Foundation. Prior to her currrent role with the YWCA she served as the director of grants and community development for the City of Prichard. She holds a Master's degree in leadership ethics from Spring Hill College and a Bachelor's degree from Auburn University.
Jay Higginbotham-Author, Director of the Mobile Municipal Archives, Retired
Jay Higginbotham was Archivist and Founder of the Mobile Municipal Archives. He has published twenty-one books, one of which, Old Mobile, won five literary awards, including the Gilbert Chinard Prize and the Alabama Library Association Award. Fast Train Russia was first published in the USSR in 1981, and the American edition (Dodd, Mead, 1983) was enthusiastically received in such publications as The New Yorker, Christian Science Monitor, Kirkus Reviews and The Library Journal. Higginbotham's works have been translated into seventeen languages, including Arabic, Chinese and Slovak. He has written for the Encyclopedia Britannica, Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia and is listed in Who's Who in America and in the Dictionary of International Biography. He has appeared on CBS, NBC, Radio Moscow and television stations throuhgout Europe, Asia, and Latin America. IN 1993, he founded the Society Mobile-La Habana, which has become an active sister-city organization promoting good relations between the U.S. and Cuba.
Secretary: Sr. Patty Huffman, D.C. Campus Minister, Spring Hill College
Sister Patty is a Daughter of Charity. She has a Masters Degree in Thology and in Christian Spirituality. She is a member of the Joint Conference/Quality Committee of St. Mary's Health Center in Evansville, IN. Sister Patty served in the nursing field for seven years before moving into parish work and campus ministry.
Sister Deborah Kennedy R.S. M.
Sister Deborah is a native of Mobile. She is a graduate of St. Mary's Grade School and Mercy High School in Mobile. Her undergraduate degree in education included specialization in emotional conflicts and counseling. Her post graduate study is in theology and scripture. She has ministered as a teacher, director of religious education, campus minister and pastoral associate. Before returning to Mobile, Sister Deborah served as Parish Director at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Fort Payne, AL from 1998 until 2008.
Christopher Knight-Assistant Federal Defender
Christopher Knight received his J.D. Degree in 1977 from the University of San Diego School of Law. Mr. Knight was licensed to practice law in Alabama in 1977 and is currently licensed to practice before all Alabama courts , the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama (since 1980, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (since 1984) and the United States Supreme Court (since 1984). He was Research/Writing Special for the Federal Defender in this district from September, 1998 until August, 1999, when he was appointed as Assistant Federal Defender. He has a braod range of experience in criminal trial and appellate work, both state and federal, and served as an Assistant District Attorney in this Circuit from 1977 to 1980. Mr. Knight also served as a Staff Attorney, Senior Staff Attorney, and Managing Attorney of the Mobile Region of the Legal Services Corporation of Alabama (1990-1998), where he was chair of the state-wide consumer law task force and participated in numerous CLD events as a trainer. He was also servce as an adjunct professor in the Continuing Learning Department at Spring Hill College.
Mark Moberg, Ph.D.-Professor of Anthropology, University of South Alabama
Mark Moberg has been a faculty member in anthropology at the University of South Alabama since 1989. His research has focused on issues of globalization, rural socioeconomic change, and fair trade in Central America and the Caribbean. He is the author of three books and numerous articles. Dr. Moberg holds a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Iowa, and an M.A. and Ph.D from UCLA. He describes his primary concerns with social justice as centering on U.S. foreign policy, peace issues, and global equity.
Creola Gibby-Ruffin - Attorney
Creola is a native of Mobile and a product of it's school system. She is an attorney in private practice and the founder of the Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Festival, Elder & Rites of Passage for Youth Empowerment.
President - Rev. Ellen Sims - Chaplain Providence Hospital
After teaching English for 25 years, primarily at Belmont University in Nashville, she pursued a call to pastoral ministry, receiving the M.Div. from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio and ordination through the American Baptist Churches/USA. In 2005, Ellen and her husband, Dr. George E. Sims, returned to their home state of Alabama and her hometown of Mobile. George is the provost of Spring Hill College. They have one daughter, a law student at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Shirley Trainer- Vice President of the National Alliance for Mental Heath and Mental Retardation and the former secretary of the local NAACP
Shirley has lived in Mobile most of her life where she raised six children, held full time employment and went to school in the evenings. As a young adult she attended Twentieth Century Business College because it was the only institution of higher learning that offered night classes. After graduating, Shirley worked as a typist for the Beacon but continued her education at Bishop State which by that time was offering classes in the evening and from which she got a degree in Business Administration. Shirley was the first black to work in the License Commissioner's Office. This was followed by 30 years with Mobile Housing Authority. Along the way she picked up a degree in Business Management from the University of South Alabama. Shirley is an active member of Revelation Baptist Church. All but one of her children live in the Mobile area. She has seven grandchildren.
Treasurer Cathy Whelton - Director of Outreach Services for Providence Hospital
Cathy is a native of Montgomery, and has lived and worked in Atlanta and Houston. She has lived in Mobile since 1981 and holds a BS in Nursing from UAB, and a Master of Science degree in Health Service Administration. She has been a registered for 35 years. Her current position is Director of Outreach Services and Diabetes Center at Providence. Cathy is active in many community organizations and serves on the Board of Ozanam Charitable Pharmacy and Bridges to Better Health. She was named as one of 10 statewide Alabama Hospital Heroes for 2009. Cathy is an advocate for the poor and vulnerable
Judith Smits, C.S.A.-Director
Judith is a member of the Sisters of St. Agnes based in Fond du Lac, WI. Previous to assuming the duties of Director of The Quest in May of 2007 she was the Director of The Service Center of Catholic Social Services. She states, "At the Service Center I dealt with the reality of poverty all day long. The Quest gives me the opportunity to address the causes of poverty." Previous to moving into the social service field, Sr. Judith engaged in teaching and parish ministries in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, New Mexico and Arizona. She holds a B.S. in Education from Marian College of Fond du Lac; an M.A. in Theology from St. John’s University in Collegeville, MN and an M.A. in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago.
Interested in volunteering?
Do you have a caring heart and some extra time? Do you like to help others and believe in equality? We are seeking volunteers. If you are interested, please contact Sr. Judith Smits at the Quest office at (251) 643-7734 or e-mail her at thequestforsj@bellsouth.net |
