One of the ways JSC provides additional discernment and spiritual formation support for our corps members is through our mentor program. Mentors are often local alum who have chosen to remain in the area, leaders in local faith communities, or have a particular skill set that matches well with a corps member’s interests. They journey alongside their mentees, actively listening to their experiences and asking thought-provoking questions to encourage reflection.
We are grateful for the following members of our community who are serving as mentors for the 2020-2021 program year:
Gail Belvett, DDS
I am a community dentist based in Durham, NC. In 2007, I founded Southpoint Family Dentistry in Durham, North Carolina and operated it until 2018. At the time of the transition, my team and I had treated over 5000 patients. In 2013, I was appointed to the Durham County Hospital Corporation Board of Trustees for Durham (now Duke) Regional Hospital; I served as Chair of the Board from 2019 – 2020. I currently sit on the Duke University Health System Board of Directors as an Independent Director.
I have served on the Friends Board of the Nasher Museum of Art from 2012 – 2018 and currently serve on the Nasher Museum Board of Advisors in an ex-officio role as Chair of the Collections Committee. In the community, I have partnered with Partners for Youth Opportunity and served as a professional mentor. I am an active member of the Old North State Dental Society (ONSDS) and the past chair of the ONSDS Mentor Program.
I currently reside in East Durham and am a member of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. I completed a hospital-based residency at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital in New York and received my Doctor of Dental Surgery from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Dentistry. A native of Canada, I earned a B.Sc. in Microbiology and Immunology with a minor in Linguistics from McGill University in Montreal.
Amanda Godwin
I’m a massage therapist and life coach who loves quilting, art journaling, the sea, sharing food and encouraging each other’s spirits into wider spaces. My work has almost always had to do with human bodies, (which I love!)-massage, yoga teaching, child birth education and labor coaching, tree planting, volume cooking Peace and Justice are important to me in my community and the world. My commitment is to keeping Love as the main note in my life and relationships. I grew up in San Francisco and moved east for my love of year-round rain. I live in Hillsborough with my husband Steve where we love offering hospitality. I’m excited to meet each of the corps members! Peace to us All!
Kristen Henry
I live in Raleigh, NC and I served in the Episcopal Service Corp in Denver, CO in 2014-2015. I then went on to graduate school to earn my Masters of Social Work and am now working as a clinical social worker. I remember how much I enjoyed and benefited from having a mentor during my service year and am looking forward to being a mentor for one of you. In my free time I enjoy spending time with friends, cooking, singing and playing music and being outside.
Dr. Allen Mask
I am an anesthesiologist and internist in private practice in Raleigh, NC. I am also the medical reporter for WRAL-TV, physician for The City of Raleigh, and physician to the artists at LiveNation Entertainment. I attended college and medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill and completed my internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Then I returned to UNC to complete a residency in anesthesiology. I serve on the John Rex Hospital Endowment Board and the Raleigh Board of Wells Fargo Bank.
Monnie Riggin
I was ordained to the Diaconate on May 5, 2018 and currently serve as liturgical Deacon at St. Joseph’s, and as Deacon for Anti-racism and Reconciliation for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. While in the Diaconate discernment process I served my internship at St. Joseph’s. Prior to coming back to St. Joseph’s, I served as the Deacon atSt. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Haw River, NC. I am a co-founder and leader ofEpiscopalians United Against Racism (EUAR), and serve on the Bishop’sRacial Justice and Reconciliation Committee (RJRC). For many years I have worked with high-risk ex-offenders returning to Durham and am very active in the Durham community. I established Faith Teams at St. Luke’s in Durham and helped train others.Prior to this, I had a wonderful 40-year career in the airline and travel management corporate world! I am a widow and have two grown girls, a son-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters. In my spare time, I love reading, gardening, writing icons, and traveling (mostly to see my children and grandchildren!).
The Rev. Noah Van Niel
I am a life-long Episcopalian having grown up in Newton, MA. After graduating from from Harvard College where I played fullback on the Crimson’s Ivy League champion football team I received my Masters of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. Before pursuing my call to ordained ministry, I trained and worked as an opera singer in Philadelphia.
Previously Assistant Rector at the Episcopal Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, MA, I have also worked at Old North Church in Boston’s historic North End; St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge; the Church of the Good Shepherd in Newton; and the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Philadelphia. I also spent a summer working as a chaplain at Massachusetts General Hospital. My writing has appeared in such publications as the New York Times, Boston Globe, and The Covenant weblog of The Living Church. My wife Melinda and I, have two sons, Vincent and Arthur.
Dr. Del Wigfall
I am a native of the Southeast. I was born in Charleston, SC, and was raised in the Southeastern segment of the country. My family traversed South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida before settling in Atlanta, Georgia where I completed high school. I completed college in Massachusetts (Williams College), medical school in Atlanta (Emory University), and residency training in Pediatrics in Houston at the University of Texas. After two years of practice in Atlanta at Grady Hospital, I completed subspecialty training in the care of children with kidney disease at the University of California, Los Angeles.
I relocated to North Carolina in 1987, and have remained a part of the Duke University School of Medicine and Health System. Aside from my clinical career, I have focused on diversity and Inclusion in the Department of Pediatrics, and medical school. I co-founded the Multicultural Resource Center and have continued to focus on cultural diversity, recruitment and selection of students and trainees, harassment and grievances, and cultural climate. I have helped to encourage candor and compassion in communication, and have fostered community in the School and Department. I have more actively engaged in discussions of race, disparities, and health during the time of Covid-19, and racial violence. I have recently completed the Racial Equity and Inclusion training, and have been trained and certified as a Duke University Office of Diversity and Inclusion Trainer. In the coming year, I will continue to focus on university wide diversity training, and the ongoing work of dismantling racism within the institution.
Debra Wuliger
I am an oil painter, draughtswoman and fine art documentarian who listens deeply and watches the way the brush and charcoal carves shapes and patterns onto a surface. I am interested in portraying the strength, dignity and joy of people as they act out their lives in ordinary circumstances. I am also fascinated with how similar we are as human beings and like to capture people’s common movements using simple shapes. These shapes connect together in interlocking patterns and act as a metaphor for how we connect as people into one unified whole. I share my love of art in several ways. I have created murals with groups of people for their communities. I also run creativity workshops and painting classes for both adults and children, out of my home studio school, Winking Moon Art, to support others on their own artistic journeys. My home and studio are in Durham where I live with my husband, Joel, and my dog, Tessa.