This Mississippi man survived Katrina and other disasters. Now he volunteers to help others
Jourdan Hartshorn was a young child when Hurricane Katrina landed on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he has lived most of his life.
Even though he was young, the hurricane changed his life forever.
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Fast forward to 2020 and Hurricane Zeta, another storm that caused damage on the Coast, and emergency responders had run out of steam and funds to help.
"I started my own nonprofit after Hurricane Zeta and the pandemic," Hartshorn said. "I saw that on the Coast the national organizations didn't come because there were already smaller teams because of COVID and they had 30 storms that year.
"By the time we got hit — I think we were the 29th or the 30th — the organizations' resources were depleted. So I thought, why are we not training our citizens to be the responders and to help the responders."
Hartshorn said having local trained responders on the ground when a storm hits not only benefits the community, but also the volunteers.
"It helps keep their mind off things and it gives us a bigger response team," he said.
Hartshorn was in Rolling Fork soon after an EF4 tornado hit the town on March 24, destroying between 80% and 85% of the buildings.
Hartshorn knew his years of experience working in disaster relief would come in handy. Once he had his feet on the ground, he worked with Sharkey County officials as a public information officer to help journalists get information out to the community and beyond.
His Mississippi Disaster and Conservation Corps has trained roughly 50 civilians in the last few years to know what to do when a disaster strikes. The volunteers go through training for different response jobs and have monthly training exercises to keep their knowledge fresh.
Now 28, Hartshorn recently accepted a job with emergency management in Texas. He plans to continue operating the Mississippi nonprofit organization to train more volunteers who can mobilize after a disaster strikes.
"I'm already in the process of sitting down and deciding if I'm going to create a Texas disaster corps," he said.
After the March 31 tornadoes caused significant damage, Hartshorn headed to Little Rock to offer his services just a week after the Rolling Fork tornado.
In addition to volunteering during natural disasters, Hartshorn has served in leadership roles on the boards of a few nonprofits including Harrison County Fair Association and Open Doors Homeless Coalition's Youth Action Board. He currently is vice president of Buddy Bags and a board member of Let's Go, Gulf Coast and United Cajun Mississippi coordinator.
Hartshorn was awarded the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021 by the Trump Administration for logging over 9,000 community service hours.
Do you have a hero you'd like us to feature? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jourdan Hartshorn's MS nonprofit trains community disaster responders
