We recently connected with Jeray Jarreau and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jeray thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Bless Your Heart Nonprofit is a small grass-roots nonprofit started along Bayou Lafourche in South Louisiana in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We have worked on projects big (1,000,000.00 in funding to refuel our community post-Hurricane Ida) and small (helping a single parent pay an electric bill).

We have quickly become a place where individuals in our community can come for help with nearly anything: financial assistance in tough times, assistance with school uniforms/supplies, Thanksgiving meals, Christmas gifts, job training, housing, medical assistance, funeral assistance, etc.

We are given the opportunity to help individuals that other organizations don’t/cannot help for one reason or another. We recognize that we are not defined by the worst thing we have ever done and that there is life on the other side of the worst mistake you’ve ever made. No one is “too far gone” to be helped by our organization.

The “underserved community” we help the most are individuals who suffer from substance abuse. Many functioning addicts have families, jobs, houses, vehicles, etc. We carefully vet the individuals we help, but we identify that many addicts are highly functioning. We recognize that the children of the addicts are often times still in their homes and don’t deserve to “go without” simply because their parent/guardian has a problem.

In or about September 2023, we were approached by a local priest who heard that a family was living in a tent under their hurricane damaged carport, on the side of their hurricane damaged home. Our team immediately drove to the residence and discovered an individual who was unable to walk laying on the ground underneath a tarp which was connected to a window air conditioning unit. Our team had an opportunity to meet with him and learned his story. A pattern of bad luck and poor decisions resulted in this devastating situation, which was only streets away from our office.

We immediately were able to secure a camper for this family to live in after sharing this story. Securing housing for this couple has profoundly impacted their lives and was the little bit of hope they needed to get onto a better path.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We began our nonprofit during the COVID-19 Pandemic. At the beginning, we were providing masks and snack baskets for essential workers. After the pandemic, our community was hit back to back by hurricanes in the 2020 and 2021. It was the worst damage our community had seen since 1965.

After the hurricanes, our organization held numerous supply distributions, school uniform drives, food drives, maintain school food pantries, assisted individuals with housing, donated money to our local civic centers, cleaned cemeteries, etc. We received over one million dollars in donations during this time period.

The post-hurricane environment really created a level of trust of our organization in our community. Our community members feel safe entrusting their funds with us to implement projects and programs along the bayou.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

We have learned that if we are too big for the small jobs then we are too small for the big jobs.

We receive hundreds of requests for assistance each month from community members of all different demographics, ages, ethnicities, and socio-economic classes. People only reach out in their most dire situations.

Our projects range from large scale to individual projects. This last Thanksgiving, we were approached by a local school counselor who had met with a child who indicated that the state-funded camper he was living in would soon be taken by the state. His family had no where to go.

Our general fund is fueled by our Community Partnership Gala that we host every August. It yields roughly 100,000.00 yearly. We fund all of our projects and pay one employee with these funds for the entire year. Our budget to help someone with housing is very small because it requires such a large amount of money to secure housing for just one family.

We reached out to the community for prayers for guidance. A local family who doesn’t make a significant amount money had recently paid off the camper they were living in after Hurricane Ida (valued at roughly 20,000.00). They aren’t the richest family along the bayou and definitely could have used that extra 20,000.00 to fix their home, pay off debt, go on vacation, etc.

They GAVE us their camper because they said it was the right thing to do. This family who lost their state-funded camper now had a forever place to live. I saw this other family give to complete strangers out of their very own money. It was a beautiful thing.

Paying close attention to these situations have inspired our larger donors to trust our organization.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My brother, Ross, is on our board, and he has a specialized skill set–he is the meme master. Our nonprofit hosts a podcast called “The DTB Podcast presented by Bless Your Heart Nonprofit.” We feature local individuals covering a broad variety of topics: social issues, substance abuse, mental health, history of the bayou, current industry conditions, and new landmarks along the bayou. From our Podcast page, my brother shares “Down the Bayou” memes that have gained a lot of traction.

We get followers from all over the world (people who grew up along the bayou, but have since moved away). His funny and light hearted humor has really gained our social media pages a significant following.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blessyourheartnonprofit.com
• Instagram: @blessyourheartnonprofit
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blessyourheartnonprofit
• Twitter: @blessyourheartnonprofit
• Youtube: The DTB Podcast, Presented by Bless Your Heart Nonprofit