Staff

Our staff at Horizons includes only a handful of paid workers. A lot of what we accomplish is a direct result of our volunteers: over 300 volunteers each month, coming from 30 different churches here in Quincy. We THANK YOU for your participation if you have ever volunteered with us. You are appreciated.

Like our volunteers, our paid staff members come from different backgrounds and different churches here in Quincy. Please allow us a moment to introduce our staff to you.

Sarah Stephens

Executive Director

Sarah Stephens joined the staff of Horizons in 2010 as the Director of Operations. She moved into the role of Executive Director in 2011. Sarah comes to Horizons with years of banking experience, serving as Vice President and Manager for National City Bank. She attended John Wood Community College and Quincy University.

She and her family reside in Quincy.

sarah@horizonsquincy.com

Mark Geissler

Community Outreach Specialist

Mark Geissler is a 2006 graduate of Carthage High School. After graduating, Mark spent time as a Welder at Manchester Tank for 2 years, until being called up for deployment to Afghanistan from October 2008 to July of 2009. Upon returning from deployment, Mark worked at Little Jess Jeep for 8 months, until he felt the Lord’s calling to go into ministry, serving full time as a Kitchen worker, and general ministry aide. In August of 2010, Mark took over as Manager of the Horizons Soup Kitchen, and Horizons Food Pantry from Peggy Grant, who was one of the original founders of the Horizons Soup Kitchen. Mark is thankful for what God has done in him, and through him, and very blessed to be a part of this growing ministry and service. He is looking forward to what God is going to be doing here, and in him, in the future.

mark@horizonsquincy.com

Debbie Fitzgerald

Director of Community Transformation

Debbie has a passion for serving the community. She loves to see the lives of its people transformed by encountering Jesus. She is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside our partner churches and organizations who share a common vision of helping each person strive toward the life God intended. It is our hope that one day everyone we meet at Horizons will begin to uncover the gifts God has uniquely given them for serving others–and put them to use for the Kingdom!

debbie@horizonsquincy.com

Eric Thorsen

Director of Food Services

Eric is our fantastic Director of Food Services! He has a beautiful wife, Morgan, and four daughters, Hattie, Clara, Lydia and Elora (twins). In 2005, he attended culinary school at the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. He also went through the Addicts Victorious program in September of 2011, which is when he gave his life to Christ. Since then, he has been in the active ministry of counseling & mentoring people who struggle with addiction. Eric helps facilitate the Living Free program which helps lead people from addiction to Christ. His heart for ministry continues to grow, and he is currently taking classes to be a certified minister through the Assemblies of God.

Eric brings nearly 20 years of culinary experience to our Horizons kitchen and a sincere heart for the Lord! He is knowledgeable about all things food, but more importantly, Eric loves Jesus! Eric’s heart for God’s people is beautiful and transformative. We are proud and thankful to have him on our Horizons’ team!

eric@horizonsquincy.com

Jessica Cornwell

Pantry Manager

Jessica is our wonderful pantry manager! She joined us in 2020, and is an indispensable part of our team. She is intentional, compassionate & does a mean Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.

Jess is a rock star mom and wife. She enjoys eating pasta salad with her kiddos, adopting cats & singing along to Hamilton.

She brings a sincere heart & many talents to Horizons. We are truly blessed to have her on our team!

jessica@horizonsquincy.com

Alyssa Ramsey

Executive Administrator Assistant

Alyssa came to Horizons in August of 2022. She is one of those nerds who enjoys organization and creating systems to help make things run smoothly and efficiently so everyone is able to focus on what they do best. She also has a passion for creating community and helping every person feel seen and loved as they are, where they are, and point them to true hope in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes just a smile or ‘hello’ can spur a life-changing conversation or experience.

Alyssa is a pastor’s wife and mom of two amazing kids. She and her husband have served in a few different churches and areas over the years, and although each community is different, the mission is always the same. Love people and help point them to Jesus. She has helped facilitate this in a variety of ways from administratively, to Children’s/Student Ministry, or starting and leading a MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) group. Wherever God leads is where she wants to be, and she wants to help use the gifts God has given her to help people know Him deeper and richer.

In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, playing bass guitar/singing at church, cross-stitching/crafting, reading, hitting the CrossFit gym, or working in the woodshop on projects with her husband.

Connect with Alyssa by sending her an e-mail at alyssa@horizonsquincy.com!

Tisha Reeves

Kitchen Manager

Tish joined Horizons as a volunteer in 2016 and was hired as a Kitchen Manager in 2017. Her employment experience covers the full spectrum of work that is called for at Horizons. She has worked in food and customer service, as a home manager with Upward Bound, as a stay-at-home mother with an in-home daycare, and as a teacher’s aide with Hannibal Public Schools.

She received her G.E.D. in 1987 and has attended Hannibal-LaGrange College.

Tish has experienced many significant changes, but she credits Horizons and our volunteers as some of the entities that saved her life.

She resides in Quincy.

Linda Boston

Give Away Table Manager

Linda is a bright light on our team! She sorts through our donations and puts together wonderful sacks of food for our neighbors who are in need. She brings an enthusiastic heart to her work & joy to our staff. We are so glad she is part of our Horizons family!

Raymond Steadman

Director of Recovery

Raymond has a heart to show & share the love of Jesus to each and every person. He has been an ordained minister since 2016 and has served as a Deacon at Quincy Faith Assembly of God since 2017. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Adult & Teen Challenge of the Four States, Primrose Hill Adult, and Teen Challenge since 2018.

Raymond is active in The Hope Center, a community outreach center that works to meet needs in the community. He leads a group called “Living Free” in order to see lives transformed out of addiction and into the freedom of a life with Christ.

In his free time, Raymond loves spending time with his family. He has been married to his wife, Ashley, for eight years and have three children together.

Raymond loves working at Horizons because it is a place where the love of Jesus is always being shown & lives constantly being touched. He is glad to be part of how God is using Horizons to meet the needs in the community and see the gospel going forth as Jesus desires!

Aubrey Schluckebier

Volunteer Coordinator

Aubrey joined the Horizons team in June of 2022 and has just moved into the volunteer coordinator position. Before joining the staff, she graduated from the first year program at a ministry school called Jesus School in Orlando, Fl, where she got the incredible privilege of encountering the person of Jesus in greater depth than ever before. After graduating in May of 2022, the Lord prompted her to move back to Quincy, IL to serve the youth at her church, Quincy Faith Assembly. In obedience, the Lord opened up more doors for her to be on the Horizons staff. Now, Aubrey is a leader in the kids and youth at Quincy Faith Assembly, the chapel teacher at Quincy Faith Academy, and is on staff here!

Aubrey has a heart burning passion to see others come to know and love Jesus as she has gotten the wonderful honor to. As her love for Jesus grows so does her desire to know Him more, thus she is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology. Aubrey loves being a part of the wonderful opportunity of showing the love of Jesus to many while at Horizons. She is honored and so grateful to be a part of Jesus’ ministry here.

Lauren

Kitchen Manager

Lauren is a bright light on our team! She loves having a job where she can be creative and come up with stuff. She loves all the volunteers and people that she has met in the community. With all the different churches that volunteer every day, has has broadened her spectrum of support. Horizons helps her stay on the right path and allows her to be the mother that she needs and wants to be for her kids. She brings an enthusiastic heart to her work & joy to our staff. We are so glad she is part of our Horizons family!