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Katrina Meredith reinforced her commitment to social justice by joining Partners for the Future. |
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As a student in Texas in the 1950s, Katrina Meredith felt the impact of the Civil Rights Movement. "I witnessed the deep prejudices that shaped peoples' thinking and actions [in response to the Movement]," she explains. Later, as a teacher, she participated in the Houston Independent School District's "voluntary desegregation" plan and emerged an active supporter of civil rights.
During those years, Katrina discovered the Center. Her admiration of its early successes, including a case that transformed the Alabama State Troopers from an all-white to a racially diverse police force, inspired Katrina to join SPLC's monthly giving program. Marking her 30-year partnership with SPLC, Katrina set up a charitable gift annuity in 2006.
"SPLC has consistently taken courses of action that have had sustainable positive impacts on protection of civil rights for minorities, education on the value of diversity, and legal action against hate groups," Katrina notes.
Katrina's commitment to social justice is rooted in the strong values of her mother, who encouraged Katrina to do volunteer work with people less fortunate. "A summer I spent volunteering in a migrant workers' camp had a huge impact on my awareness of the social inequities that exist in our bountiful country, and the vulnerability of those for whom that bounty is out of reach. That led me to participate in the United Farm Workers' boycott movement in the 1970s."
Katrina has continued to make extraordinary life choices fueled by her vision of justice. She retired in 2005 and joined an international volunteer service organization in Southeast Europe. "I have the benefit of my life experiences and skills to bring to my service now; I am much better equipped to deal with the challenges," she explains. "I'm renewing the activism that took a backseat while raising a family and having a career."
Her retirement also led to Katrina's charitable gift annuity. "A gift annuity was more in line with my fixed income status than a monthly pledge. SPLC provided good information on the benefits and it was easy to accomplish."
Of her current volunteer experience, Katrina says: "In my location, I am not experiencing the extreme physical discomfort that some international volunteers endure; my challenges are more in the area of changing mind sets. My experiences here reinforce the value of the work of the Center. Here, law is tenuous and diversity often gets lip service at best. A long history of oppression and violence dominates, although huge efforts by international groups assist those moving away from that history toward a more open and diverse future."
"As we work to change the inhumane values that are pervasive in transitional societies — and that still exist in America — SPLC will continue to have my support."
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