Both options have logical reasoning behind them. Both make sense, but on April 27, 2011, Karen Thompson had no choice but to fight.
Serving as executive director of Temporary Emergency Services in Tuscaloosa for 25 years, Thompson met the destruction of the April 27 tornadoes firsthand. As the natural disaster left many Tuscaloosa residents hungry, homeless and heartbroken, it was up to Thompson and her staff to provide for hundreds.
TES is a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve the community by providing individuals with necessities. When the April 27 tornado increased the number of people in need, the organization took the battle head on. While their food pantry became barren and their clothing supply scarce, the disaster was able to raise awareness for the need of the nonprofit organization.
“Our name finally was out there where I feel in the beginning it had not been,” Thompson said. “Even though there had been smaller storms, it took a bigger storm for people to realize this is what we do and what we’re going to continue to do.”
Fast-forward four years and 20 percent of the Tuscaloosa community still depends on TES for hot showers, food, clothing and financial support in the wake of personal crises.
“It’s not easy,” Thompson said. “Your name is out there, but it’s associated with one thing. There’s so much beyond the tornado.”
Some UA students are beginning to believe in the organization’s mission as well. Nutrition classes at the University work with the organization by challenging their students to come up with new recipes based on the food pantry’s offerings, find different ways to pack food bags and learn more about the nonprofit.
“Sometimes we get to a point where we just don’t have any food,” Thompson said. “But they’re able to come to us with a new aspect for a whole semester.”
As TES grows to meet the demands of the community, volunteers and interns are what help the staff make their mission a reality. However, with only 12 permanent volunteers working with the organization, TES is in constant pursuit of helping hands.
“I would love to have more business interns come help us come up with ideas to grow the agency,” Thompson said. “We’re still not done. We still have to continue to work on selling ourselves.”
By going four years without raises and receiving zero bonuses from after the tornado, the organization’s staff members have given themselves to their mission.
“They’ve moved three times until they finally got their own building on 15th Street,” said LoWanda James, Thompson’s longtime friend and TES board member.
Celebrating 70 years of service this year, the organization continues to face both natural and individual disasters for Tuscaloosa.
“Karen Thompson has taken Temporary Emergency Services to a level I think many people thought might never could be possible,” James said.
