NOLA Katrina refugee finds compassion, friendship here

By COLIN MURPHEY
For over a decade, Joseph Jackson has called a health care facility in Franklin home. But for the New Orleans native, that wasn’t always the case and it took one of the fiercest displays of nature the region has ever seen to change his life forever.
Jackson, along with thousands of other New Orleans residents, was displaced from his beloved home when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city beginning on Aug. 29, 2005. And although, for a while, Jackson longed to return to his home, he didn’t. Jackson now calls Franklin home and it’s because of who he found here and how the community has treated him that he decided to stay.
In his room at the Franklin Health Care Center are all that remains of Jackson’s belongings. Everything else, including his home, was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In the months following the storm, Jackson did go home to see the aftermath, recover what he could and see if even could return to his life before Katrina.
The decision, he said, to stay in Franklin was a hard one and he was initially depressed about his fate. But with the help of some people in here in Franklin, Jackson decided to stay. Jackson recounted the experience that brought him to St. Mary Parish for the Banner-Tribune.
“When the storm came, it was pretty bad,” Jackson said. “I was at the Superdome and then Tulane Medical Center and we didn’t have any food or water and it was very hot. Power was out. After the storm passed we could see all the trees blown down and all the windows were blown out. As far as I could see, and I was on the seventh floor…..water.”
Jackson said, after a day at the Tulane Medical Center, he was evacuated to Baton Rouge for a few days before being transported to Franklin. The transition, he said, after accepting the fact that he had no home to go back to, took some time.
“I was born and raised in New Orleans,” Jackson said. “I loved living in New Orleans. I was used to the hustle and bustle. When they finally allowed us to go back, there was very little I was able to salvage. It was a total loss. I lost a lot of pictures, my mother’s wedding pictures. Things that can’t be replaced. There was a very nice man, I can’t remember his name, gave me some clothes and a table and a television.”
Once he got to Franklin and came to the realization that he was staying, Jackson said what made the transition bearable was people he met in the community and the assistance they provided. Jackson said despite his experience, he is of the opinion that things happen for a reason.
“At first I was very depressed,” Jackson said. “I was depressed because I had never lived away from New Orleans. I was alienated from a lot of friends and family. But I got a lot of assistance from the people here. People here helped me locate some of my family. There was a time I really wanted to go back. But things changed. I met so many nice people here that have really helped me. People here took on the role of being my family. People here went out of their way to make me comfortable. The people here have really taken care of me. I may not have a lot of things, but I have this place to call home now.”
When he looks back on the experience and everything that has happened since, Jackson sees it all as one long road to his future.
“I learned a lot from that storm,” Jackson said. “It was devastating what happened and I lost some friends to that storm. I’ve learned a lot about people. There have been a lot of people that have been there for me ‘cause I was very much alone. I will always remember that. I don’t know if it would’ve been like that in New Orleans.”