Jones Family
PARKERSBURG - For the Jones family of seven, their little sliver of ground in south Parkersburg could not be more precious.
On Sunday afternoon, Shawn and Tanisha Jones - as well as their five children - officially became the owners of their new 720 eighth Ave. Habitat for Humanity home.
The home was the 46th dedicated by Wood County Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat homes are not gifts, nor are they homes in exchange for the volunteer work done to the homes of others during the process. Habitat sells the homes to the families and the Jones family, like any homeowner, has to pay for it.
That's why there's a bit more to the selection process for families than just "sweat equity," said Alvin Phillips, director of Wood County Habitat for Humanity.
"When we look to qualify families, we look at three things: the need of their current housing, their willingness to volunteer at least 350 hours and their ability to pay. We sell them the homes with a zero percent mortgage. It is a real blessing to be able to sell them this house. They have five children and it takes a lot to care for five children these days," he said.
Shawn Jones said the experience, which included two years of volunteering on others' homes, was "uplifting."
"This teaches us that people are not destined to be poor," he said. "You can do something about it. It has been a very emotional experience. You never understand your purpose in life until you reach out to help others. For two years, we've helped others with their homes. It was so uplifting when they said 'We have your lot.' This program lets us know that there is good in mankind."
The children - Shamara, 7, Brianna, 8, Shaianne, 12, Braedyn, 6, and Tamia, 7 - were running around in all directions on Sunday, inside and out, enjoying their new home.
It was certainly a far cry from their former rental apartment, where the children had to spend a great deal of time inside to avoid the turmoil often found outside, Shawn Jones said.
"We'd have to keep them inside a lot because of some of the things that were happening outside in the neighborhood. We had six bikes stolen from in front of our apartment. We'd get locks and that would take care of it for a while, but then, somebody would forget to lock the bike and it would get stolen. There were security cameras, but they said they can't do anything. I asked 'How come you can't use these security cameras to find out who stole my kids' joy?' because that's what they were doing," he said.
Now those restrictions are gone. The new neighborhood, he said, is a nice one. Now, the Jones are masters of their own castle, Shawn Jones said.
"The freedom is incredible. It is much different from the controlled (rental apartment) environment we were in, but those restrictions have taught us to be humble. There are so many things that we can do now. Now that the lid has come off, the question is, will we be able to contain it? Do we even want to contain it?" he said.
Tanisha Jones is making plans for beautifying the outside.
"We'll have a garden this summer and a flowerbed along the street. We're going to make this look pretty. I'm really excited about that. I can't believe it, we have our own house now," she said.
While the economic downturn has hit the construction industry particularly hard, Phillips said he hasn't noticed much difference in donations yet.
"We've really not seen a major increase. We actually had a very good end-of-year, but it's hard to tell. It will be interesting to see how this year turns out," he said.
