When an emergency happens, calling 911 is almost instinctive.

Someone answers, a dispatcher sends help, and within moments, paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, or law enforcement officers are heading toward a situation most people would instinctively avoid.

There is an expectation that when help is needed, someone will come.

But the people answering those calls sometimes need help, too.

That is where the First Responders Foundation hopes to make a difference.

The Northeast Mississippi organization was created to support and recognize first responders and their families, whether that means helping with a practical need, offering support during a difficult time, or simply making sure their work does not go unnoticed.

For founder Kelley Burleson, the idea grew from both her 23 years in emergency medical services and the loss of someone who had become much more than a coworker.

In a career like hers, Burleson said, coworkers have a way of becoming family. They spend long shifts together and experience situations few people outside emergency services fully understand.

One of those friends was critical care paramedic Jakob Kindt.

Kindt started as an EMT student alongside Burleson, and he later became her paramedic partner. He eventually continued his education and became a flight medic. His death in a 2025 UMMC AirCare helicopter crash left a tremendous loss for those who knew and worked alongside him.

"He was just such a positive person," Burleson said. "I just felt like we needed to do something in his honor."

From that loss came an idea centered both on remembering those who have been lost and on taking care of those who are still here.

Burleson joined with Tanya Mayo, Tyler Scott and Bailey Berryman to establish the First Responders Foundation.

"I want to honor not just Jakob, but everybody that has lost their life in the line of duty," Burleson said. "I want the ones that are left behind to have emotional, physical and financial support and let them know that it's there for them."

The needs can look different for every person or family. The foundation hopes to help with medical expenses, food, transportation and other unexpected hardships. Members also hope to provide scholarships for the children of first responders eventually.

Sometimes, however, help can be as simple as recognizing a need and finding someone who can meet it.

When a retired first responder broke her leg and was having difficulty getting around her home, the foundation helped secure a donated wheelchair and assistance getting her to medical appointments.

For Burleson, first responders helping their own makes sense.

"We spend all our lives, all our time trying to help other people," she said. "So who better to help you than your own people?"

They are also a group that does not always find it easy to ask.

"Most of us are really difficult when it comes to asking for help," Burleson said.

Beyond assisting, the foundation wants to recognize the men and women doing extraordinary things in their communities.

"I want to celebrate life, not when we've lost somebody, but while we're still here," Burleson said.

One such opportunity came when the foundation presented an award in Kindt's honor to Plantersville firefighter Dustin Smith.

Smith was at home when he heard a nearby gas explosion and immediately went to help. Two men were still trapped in a ditch with gas continuing to flow, Mayo said. Firefighters held Smith by his feet while he reached down to help get the men out.

He had rushed to the scene in shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops.

"He risked his own life to save those two," Mayo said.

Stories like Smith's are part of what the foundation wants the public to understand about those working in emergency services.

"They put their lives on the line every day they come to work," Mayo said. "We want to be there for the families and for the paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, dispatchers, police officers — all of them."

For most people, first responders are simply there when they are needed. It can be easy to forget the person arriving to help has a family, responsibilities, and a life waiting at home.

Board member and Fire Marshal Tyler Scott hopes the foundation can help change that perspective.

"The fire department is here to help other individuals, and we are, but communication is key," Scott said.

Part of that is simply putting faces with the voices and uniforms people encounter during an emergency.

Scott pointed to Mayo as an example. He had known her for years through their work, but in a very particular way.

"I've known her for a long time, but I've known her as a dispatcher, as a voice," he said.

Through the foundation, those professional connections are becoming more personal, while different agencies are building a larger support network for one another.

"You're not a 'they,'" Scott said. "You're a person."

That network also makes it easier for the organization to recognize when someone within the first responder community needs help and to find resources to meet that need.

"We can now kind of pinpoint individuals that need help that are in our fields, and we can use our resources that we've gathered from a community," Scott said.

First responders or family members who need assistance can reach out directly to the First Responders Foundation through its Facebook page. Board members can then learn more about the situation and determine how the organization can help.

Community members can also support the work. A CREATE Foundation donation link is available through the organization's Facebook page, and the foundation also sells T-shirts representing different areas of emergency service.

Burleson admits she did not know what to expect when the foundation began.

"It grew quickly," she said. "I didn't realize it was going to be as big as it is."

What started as a way to honor a friend has become an opportunity to care for an entire community accustomed to being the ones who do the caring.

For Burleson and the other board members, the goal is to make sure first responders know that when they need help, they have somewhere to turn, too.

© 2026 the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, Miss.). Visit www.djournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.