A 76-year-old homeless man has finally found housing, but he is looking forward to reuniting with his three adult daughters, whom he hasn’t seen in ten years.
Waitus Jones has been living on the streets of Atlanta for 15 years, but now he has a one-bedroom apartment courtesy of Intown Collaborative Ministries.
Sleeping on the street had become routine for the 76-year-old.
“I been out on the street so long, but I never considered myself homeless. I always considered myself blessed and highly favored,” the Atlanta man said.
Mr. Jones has been fortunate throughout his life; he spent several years as a cook at the famed Atkins Park Restaurant. That’s when he claimed exclusive custody of his three daughters, whom he hadn’t seen in ten years. He’s lost all of their photos, but Sylvia Marie Jones, who he believes resides in Conyers, LaKisha Ann Jones, and Clarissia Ann Mills, who formerly owned a daycare, will always be in his heart.
“I raised my three daughters by myself. The youngest was 4, the oldest was 8. I didn’t do nothing but go tonight, come home, wash dishes, wash clothes, cook clean house,” Mr. Jones recalled.
Mr. Jones, who hasn’t seen a doctor in years, is pleased with his new home and looks forward to reuniting with his beloved daughters.
“My daughters supersede all of that because they are always on my mind. I should run into them somewhere on the bus line or something. That’s my prayer,” the father concluded with tears in his eyes.