Struggling Detroit Family Gets New Home For The Holidays
DETROIT (WWJ) - A Detroit family got a Christmas surprise they won't soon forget. The Detroit Rescue Mission, with help from AT&T and a host of volunteers, fixed up a home and gave it to a family struggling to make ends meet, along with a car and a full-time job.
Dale Jones said he, his wife and his daughter had no idea what was in store for them when they pulled into the driveway on Tuesday.
"I seen the cameras and I thought something done happened on the street. I didn't know it all was for me," he told WWJ's Ron Dewey and other reporters.
Dale and Cheryl Jones were mired in drugs and alcohol before they came to the mission.
"I've traveled a long up and down road to get here and it didn't straighted out until I got to the Mission," Dale Jones said. "And once I did I got the love that, really, I needed," Dale Jones said.
His wife is equally grateful.
"Two or three years ago I was never in this position ... none of this. And, with their help, I made it! I made it, and I thank them," she said.
Mission President and CEO Chad Audi said the family should serve as symbol in the community.
"All of the negative stories that we're hearing about Detroit we can show always, every day, a very positive story like we're doing today," Audi said. "All that we ask is (for them) to be an encouragement for others. They worked hard to be where they are today."
This the fourth home gifted through "Working Homes-Working Families" Initiative for clients of the rescue mission who are working and reunited with their families.
