“LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS” Bless Your Heart Nonprofit
Bless Your Heart Board (from left: Chris Brantley, Luke Newman, Hilary Krum Danos, Jeray Jarreau, Ross Jambon)
Six days after Hurricane Ida, Jeray Jambon Jarreau and her team at Bless Your Heart nonprofit set up a supply distribution site in a lumberyard. South Lafourche Parish, where Bless Your Heart is located, faced some of the storm’s worst impact. Winds moving at 150 miles per hour tore off roofs, topped boats, and felled power lines. The community was struggling. The day of their supply distribution, explains Jarreau, “was the day that we stopped the bleeding.” Jarreau says the days she spent preparing were the most exhausting of her life. She was recovering from the storm herself, living in a camper in her brother’s driveway with her family. The work was physical, emotional, and logistical. Jarreau and her team were soliciting donations, organizing supplies into buckets that would be easy for community members to take, and setting up a full distribution center in ninety degree heat and thick humidity. Jarreau had a good team helping her. Bless Your Heart is a small, community-based operation that