It's Pride Y'all 2024 Headliners

Temica “Tutt” Morton is a dedicated LGBTQIA+ advocate and entrepreneur based in Jackson, MS, whose tireless efforts have made a significant impact on her community. Tutt has been instrumental in addressing the unmet needs of the LGBTQIA+ community in MS. In 2018, she founded Love Inside For Everyone (L.I.F.E.), Inc. with a mission to provide essential services through collaboration, education, innovative health services, and capacity building, it aims to improve the quality of life for all individuals. Tutt’s journey into advocacy began with a profound desire to see more support for her community. Witnessing firsthand the stories and struggles of those around her, she created L.I.F.E., Inc. to fill the gaps in services and resources. L.I.F.E., Inc. offers HIV rapid testing, advocacy training, and a community food pantry, all designed to meet the diverse needs of the community. In recognition, Tutt received the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® SPARK! Grant. This grant enabled L.I.F.E., Inc. to provide necessary resources to create safe and trusting spaces where community members could find support and understanding. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Tutt and her team continued to support the community through phone calls, medication deliveries, and transportation assistance for essential workers. They also adapted by hosting social topics on social media platforms and conducting one on-one discussions via Zoom, ensuring that the community remained connected and supported. In addition to her work with L.I.F.E., Inc., Tutt is also the owner of Metro 2.0, a nightclub that has served as a vital gathering place for LGBTQIA+ people of color in Jackson

since the late 1990s. Acquiring the lease in February 2020, just as the pandemic struck, Tutt invested her entire savings into the venue. Despite the challenges posed by shutdown orders, she remained determined to keep the bar alive, recognizing its importance as one of the only Black-owned gay bars in the South. Tutt’s commitment to

her community extends beyond her business endeavors. She has continued to work on numerous projects addressing critical issues, such as the high rates of HIV in Jackson. By incorporating Metro Pageantry into L.I.F.E., Inc.'s programs, Tutt hosts an annual

pageant event in collaboration with community organizations. This event provides testing and treatment services, reaching thousands of black males and females aged 18-36, and addressing health disparities, including HIV. The progress made by L.I.F.E., Inc. under Tutt’s leadership has culminated in the establishment of Metro Reunion Weekend, an annual family reunion event that promotes health awareness, testing, and education. This event brings together the community and allies to celebrate life and encourage individuals to know their health status for a healthier future. Temica “Tutt” Morton's unwavering dedication to her community and her innovative approach to advocacy have made her a beacon of hope and change. Through her work with L.I.F.E., Inc. and Metro 2.0, she continues to inspire and uplift the LGBTQIA+ community in Jackson, Mississippi, making a lasting impact on the lives of those she serves.

Kathy Clem, Executive Director of The Good Samaritan Center since 1999, works tirelessly to make sure struggling families in Jackson receive year-round services including case management, financial assistance, counseling services, clothing, food, and job assistance. The organization has also grown to include a soup kitchen in Jones County, which is a “grab-n-go” meal program for food insecure individuals and families in Laurel and other area communities.

Kathy, originally born and raised in Florida, is a transplant to the South, having lived in Jackson, MS, for forty-five years. She started volunteering at Good Sam about 10 years after it was founded in 1972 - under the direction of seven Jackson churches - while her mother was executive director. Her first full-time non-profit job was at the center in the mid-'80s. Kathy had gone through four years of pre-med classes at Millsaps College, but her mom encouraged her to get more involved with Good Sam. “You love people,” she recalled her mother saying to her. Shortly after Kathy started working full-time, she

went back to school to get a business degree in the 1990s from Belhaven College. As Kathy says, non-profits are just like all businesses with budgets, HR, payroll, and the like. The big difference is who are the shareholders... the community. When the Covid-19 Pandemic began in 2020, Kathy saw a need in the community. HUB for the Hungry came out of her realization that food insecurity was going to grow during the pandemic while farmers and closed restaurants, schools, and dining services were turning away their fresh food orders since they were unable to sell them. Good Sam partnered with other organizations and businesses to rescue food from food brokers,

restaurants, and farmers to give to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the state. Since the inception of HUB for the Hungry, the collaboration has saved over eight million pounds of good food from being thrown away. Good Sam also assisted in water distribution during Jackson’s water crisis.  "I love what Good Sam does and I believe in what we do here", Kathy says. "We are a progressive non-profit; we take people who have a crisis situation and make long-term

positive changes. You always have to focus on the individual and their family because every individual is different, and they are all unique.” Kathy is a visionary in the nonprofit world emphasizing unique as well as “tried and true” ideas for her charity; ideas that include charitable gaming, upscale resale stores, dynamic social media, diversity in

hiring, and quality customer and client service. Under Kathy’s leadership, Good Samaritan Center is an organization that believes that we should be an example to for- profit and not-for-profit businesses in the communities we serve. But that’s not all Kathy does! Kathy has sat on a number of non-profit boards (which includes being board president) for charities and foundations that deal with homelessness, hunger relief, diversity and inclusion, ultra and trail running, women and craft beer, and neighborhood development. She is a graduate of Leadership Greater Jackson. She joined the Mississippi Capital City Pride, first as a volunteer, and then in 2020 as a committee member. Her extensive knowledge and leadership of planning fundraising races throughout the Capital City region led her to excel in coordinating Capital City Pride’s annual Rainbow Run 5k, which includes a run, a walk, and a children’s fun run. She gives countless hours toward the annual It’s Pride Y’all festival and other events throughout the year. Kathy’s presence is always uplifting, insightful, supportive, and encouraging, and she looks for opportunities for those around her. Helping people is what makes her heart run. Creating safe places for all queer individuals and their allies, especially youth, has become a huge passion for her. Kathy’s hobbies include craft beer, travel, being outside (whether hiking in the mountains or swimming at the beach) and community development.