What’s the value of a hot meal for a hungry stomach? For KC businesswoman, $1,000

Tenesia Looney moved around Kansas City a lot as a child, and one of the places she lived was off of Troost Avenue near East 31st Street.

“When I lived over here, one of the places I would frequent for dinner was a place called the Holy House,” Looney said. “That was a house that was open for anybody to come in to be able to get a hot meal.”

Nostalgic, she recently wanted to go back to the Holy House and eat a meal. It wasn’t there anymore, but she discovered Thelma’s Kitchen, Kansas City’s first donate-what-you-can restaurant.

Reconciliation Services, a nonprofit focused on bridging the Troost racial and economic divide, opened Thelma’s Kitchen almost two years ago . Thelma’s is a “gathering place, where everyone is welcome,” according to its website.

At the cafe, suggested donations are $9 for a smaller portion and $12 for a larger one, though patrons can pay more or less. Another option is to volunteer for 30 minutes for a lunch voucher.

“When I discovered Thelma’s Kitchen, I was here every day of the month for business meetings, bringing staff up here; this is where I came to eat,” said Looney, CEO of Keys Realty Group. “It was healthy, it was good and I liked their mission.”

Knowing the value of a hot meal for a hungry stomach, when Looney won the 2019 Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors Community Service Award, she chose Reconciliation Services and Thelma’s Kitchen to be the recipient of the $1,000 that comes with the award.

“I sat in here plenty of days just watching people come in and out,” she said. “I couldn’t think of a better place to give the money to than an organization that really does make a difference, and you see it blatantly. I see it firsthand, what they do here.”

It’s not difficult to see why Looney — mother of two, grandmother of two and life-long Kansas Citian — was chosen for the award.

She has sponsored several community events, including a yearly Community Thanksgiving Meal, a yearly Cold Weather Coat Drive and a Community Fun Day where families could spend time together and enjoy games, obstacle courses and free food.

But Looney’s greatest passion lies in helping others become homeowners.

“As a child, I probably moved every three to six months and went to every elementary school in Kansas City,” Looney said. “So, I have a push and a mission to create as many homeowners as possible, especially women with children. I know what stability in a child’s life and in a parent’s life can actually help them do.”

That mission drives Keys Realty Group, and it led to the creation of the group’s biannual Kansas City Homes Tour Experience. The tour takes people around to beautiful, affordable homes in the urban core and guides people through various obstacles holding them back from home-ownership.

From the five tours that have been held so far, the group has helped 88 of the events’ attendees become homeowners.

“Many people in the urban core aren’t homeowners for various reasons,” Looney said. “Various barriers prevent them, but they aren’t barricades. So, if I could give them the hope and resources to be able to become homeowners, then that’s what I wanted to do.”

Father Justin Mathews, the executive director of Reconciliation Services, said the donation from Looney and the Realtors association will help with the nonprofit’s mission of feeding the community and fostering racial and economic reconciliation.

“We will put the gift from Keys Realty to work right away to help address nutritional insecurity and help us reopen after COVID, but it will also help us to continue the work of building relationships, which is at the very root of addressing the problem of racial and economic discrimination,” Mathews said.

There’s currently a note of urgency in the mission of racial reconciliation, Mathews said, and collaboration such as what’s happening between Keys Realty Group and Reconciliation Services is needed to advance that mission.

“There’s a great hunger right now for action that we can take together to bring about sustainable solutions,” Mathews said. “And it’s going to take the best of business, faith and philanthropy to accomplish that social good.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 1:05 PM.