About 15 years ago, a bookkeeper and administrative assistant at First Christian Church, Pam Bussell, had grown tired of seeing community resources wasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were running out of resources and having to turn people away because we didn\u2019t have food for them or money to help out with their necessities,\u201d Bussell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several groups, such as churches, organizations, and local businesses, were facing the same problem. People were coming to them asking for help, and there was no way for them to know if they had already received it, so their donations were being misused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMultiple agencies were giving the same people assistance repeatedly and then running out of resources,\u201d Bussell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She reached out to directors at Good Samaritan, Attic Outlet, local churches, nonprofits, and other community organizations to discuss ways to better help Tullahoma\u2019s disenfranchised community without wasting their donations and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted to cut back on some of that so we could help more people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They began holding informal, monthly meetings to discuss what needs were present in Tullahoma and the best ways to address them. Within a matter of months, more agencies and churches began to join. The fire department got involved, guidance counselors from community schools chimed in, and local businesses and nonprofits pulled up a seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEveryone agreed that something needed to be done about it,\u201d she said. \u201cEverybody has the same desire\u2014to have their resources stretched as far as possible and to help as many people as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group, which consists of over 90 organizations\/ volunteers, is known in Tullahoma as \u201cBetter Together.\u201d In between meetings, the group regularly calls and speaks over email, sharing needs or donations as they come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within months, the group was changing lives in Coffee County. When a deaf Tullahoma resident had difficulty getting their landlord to supply an accessible fire alarm in their unit, they contacted Better Together. Within hours, the fire department had secured a light-up alarm and installed it at the resident\u2019s home the next day. Over the summer, Better Together partnered with the Tullahoma Housing Authority to offer a day camp so children could have at least two meals and activities to participate in during the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you have that many people working together, and it\u2019s not exhausting [only] one organization\u2019s resources, you\u2019re able to do so much more,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just discovered we are better when we are working together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One high school counselor reached out to the group with a student who had aged out of the foster system and needed housing. In a matter of days, Better Together found them an apartment and collected enough donations to fill their new home with the essentials. School officials reached out to the group when Tullahoma schools closed due to COVID-19. Better Together had churches open their doors for students whose parents worked and couldn\u2019t be home during the day to help with schoolwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have had families whose homes have burned, and with one email, needs were met within days,\u201d Bussell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Tullahoma lacking an established homeless shelter, several Better Together members and area ministers helped start an Emergency Cold Winter Homeless Shelter. They rotate through local churches and allow members of the homeless community inside each night to have a warm place to sleep. It\u2019s the kind of idealistic community support that government officials and community leaders dream of across the country, and it has become a reality in Tullahoma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDonations received in Coffee County, stay in Coffee County,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople have been willing to donate to us because we\u2019re good stewards of their money.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And if someone is abusing the system, they can flag it pretty quickly. They even work with Tullahoma utility services to make sure the money they donate for folks\u2019 utility bills is actually going toward their utility bills. Since people from different agencies reach out to every corner of the community in communication about their resources, there is less chance for people to collect the same money from multiple places, allowing them to serve more people and families who really need the help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, Better Together is building a shelter to house local people experiencing homelessness and a closet for foster parents to get things like strollers, car seats, and clothing they may need in the early days of fostering. Anyone wishing to help with foster care donations can contact Pam Bussell at (931) 455-2200, and anyone wishing to help with shelter efforts can contact Rev. Tom Murdock at (931) 455-2200. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tullahoma organization Better Together has a unifying desire\u2014to have resources stretched as far as possible and to help as many people as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":68,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-10015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-january"],"yoast_head":"\n