Janise Donovan

Nancy Ellington

I am a native North Carolinian who went off wandering – out west to San Francisco for 11 years – and returned in 2003. If there is a place that could replace the openness, inclusivity, and, yes, kookiness of San Francisco, it would be the Jubilee! community in Asheville. I have been a spiritual seeker since early college and this passion has led me to explore and fall in love with many aspects of several religious traditions.  I believe that each tradition is a well that taps into the one underground river that is the source of all. Jubilee! is a place where each of these traditions is welcomed.

I chose to serve on the Jubilee board because I love this place, the community, and the service that it provides to so many people, and I wanted to help further each of these things in whatever ever way I can.  I bring my background of having created and chaired a non-profit board for several years as well as my current work as a leadership and career coach, speaker and consultant

am honored to serve on the Jubilee! Board. I grew up in upstate New York with Greek American Parents. After college, I went into the construction trades where I have worked (off and on) for over thirty years. I have also owned my own natural foods store in Dallas, TX and worked for a national chain in Santa Fe, NM. I even managed a tortilla manufacturing company for four and a half years!

When I first came to Asheville in 2001, I would have been the last one to see myself in a “brick and mortar” church.” My spirit path for the previous twenty years had been very esoteric—drawing on eastern philosophy, Native American, South American, and metaphysical modalities. I had an attitude about “organized religion.” Having grown up in the Greek Orthodox Church, I knew what that path had to offer. But there is little that is common about Jubilee! I feel genuinely cared for and blessed to be a part of it all. I hope to serve with dignity, distinction, and commitment to the highest and best good for the community.

Melodie Meadows

I grew up just outside Asheville in Leicester, NC. My family attended a Methodist church, but I joined a Baptist church when I was sixteen. While I have fond memories of my early church experiences, the underlying message of being basically sinful and imperfect was the “truth” I took with me into adulthood. It wasn’t until my husband, Ralph Redpath, and I began attending Jubilee! over ten years ago that I came to value myself as a holy being and began to operate from a basis of love and acceptance rather than guilt and shame. I am honored to be nominated to the Jubilee! Board and am thankful for the opportunity to give to the Community that has been such a blessing to me personally. An area of interest for me is the Nurture program, as our daughter, Tara, is now nine years old. I am also interested in the Outreach program as I wholeheartedly believe that Jubilee!’s commitment to giving should always be “the main thing.”

In addition to being a wife and mother, I have worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist for over 15 years. I have been the co-leader of the Asheville chapter of Families with Children from China—a group dedicated to honoring and celebrating the birth culture of our children, as well as providing a support network for adoptive families. Most spare moments are spent curled up with a good book and faithful dog, Chance, or mischievous kitten, Arabella.

Becky Polonsky

My family and I moved to Asheville in 1990 seeking a wonderful place to raise our two children – and we certainly found it! After many years of attending a traditional Methodist Church while the children were growing up, we suddenly found ourselves in a “spiritual rut.” In 2002, a friend suggested that we try Jubilee! and from the first Sunday we walked through the doors, Tom and I knew that we had found our place! I have been involved with the Outreach Team for four years and regularly participate with Room in The Inn. I love the vibrant and diverse celebrations, the energy exuded by Jubilants and the outreach to the community. Being part of the Outreach Team has confirmed to me that Jubilants coming together by giving time, money and gifts can have a tremendous impact on the lives of so many people and organizations. The ripple effect is amazing.

Professionally, I am a relationship manager with a community bank serving the Hendersonville/Fletcher area. Tom and I live in Arden; our daughter, Katie, works with the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, DC, and, our son, Joey is spending the summer involved with an HIV/AIDS education program in Honduras. I am honored to serve on the Board and contribute to the path that Jubilee! will follow.

Jennifer Stansbury

Stewart Stokes

I came to Jubilee six years ago with my fiancé, Tracy, to check out Howard as a possible officiant for our wedding. Well, here we are, married, now a family and involved in the wonderful spirit of Jubilee! Soon after attending Pathways we joined the Arts Team, a fun bunch providing remarkable opportunities for creative expression. Jubilee is a refreshing environment for us to nurture our spiritual quests after having experienced disillusionment with our more traditional church backgrounds.

I bring to Jubilee! twenty-five years of experience as an administrator, supervisor and a therapist for adults, teens and families. In an effort to follow my muse and live more creatively, I changed careers and am now a photographer. This allows me to work at home and to be present with my daughter while she is young. Thriving in our culture is more than challenging. As a parent of a three year old I am motivated by questions such as: how can we as parents rear an aware, spiritually healthy and socially responsible child? And, how can the Jubilee! Community nurture the spiritual lives of its children and families? We have a unique opportunity at Jubilee! to provide an environment in which our children and their families can experience healthy spiritual growth. I’m grateful to be able to contribute to this development through my role as a Jubilee! Board member.

Terry Ward

Jubilee! has been my community of choice since I moved here ten years ago from Greensboro. In fact, I used to visit Asheville long before I moved here, so I feel very much at home in the mountains. I am a native Floridian transplant, having spent the first eighteen years of my life there, but my last forty years here in North Carolina. As a semi-retired person, I teach electronics technology at A-B Tech, and have been teaching in community colleges for over thirty years. It is my passion. Woven into my teaching schedule is volunteer time at Mission Hospital, often with kids with cancer and long term illnesses. Singing and music of all kinds are also a part of my life, and I greatly enjoy the many opportunities for singing at Jubilee! I love travel and have been fortunate to have experienced sacred sites in Europe, South America, and the American Southwest—all great adventures. My intention is to lead international trips for small groups. Photography is also a keen interest of mine, as is Sacred Geometry.

I am blessed to be a part of the Jubilee Community where there is an abundance of compassion, acceptance, genuine joy, and heart-felt laughter. After all, life is too short to not to be immersed in this wonderful community.

Lynda Wayne

I have been a member of Jubilee! for eight years and participate in the Nurture Program Parent Team, the North Circle of Care, and the former ‘28801’ Neighborhood Team. My husband and I, Greg Goodman, are the proud parents of two sons, ages 10 and 13, and manage our own consulting practice specializing in geographic information. I have degrees in Landscape Architecture and worked as a coastal landscape ecologist at Louisiana State University (LSU) before establishing and directing the Louisiana Geographic Information Center at LSU. I was raised in Northern Virginia (before it was a mall) and developed my love of the mountains while spending summers with family in West Virginia and attending college in Blacksburg, VA.

Howard Yarborough