RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – For a teenager, a car typically represents freedom.
However, in his adulthood, 19-year-old Max Jones said his first car had to be everything, including his home.
“I went through a lot,” he said. “I was homeless for a long period of time.”
For several months, Jones said he would spend his days attending George Wythe High School in Richmond before working at a local restaurant. He had also been living out of his car.
“I still wore the same clothes. They were never clean, they were never dirty. They were just wearing the same clothes. Like sweats, joggers, crocs,” he said.
Jones said his situation was the result of what he describes as a chaotic upbringing.
The George Wythe senior said he lived with his mom and half-siblings. Money was hard to come by and stable housing was even tougher.
“She did work a lot when we were growing up, an extreme amount,” he said.
Jones said things got worse when his siblings’ fathers came back into their lives and left him and his mother alone.
Eventually, Jones said he had to make his first adult decision.
“I know my life is bad, so I took the bus, I paid for a ticket,” Jones said.
Jones said he found his way to Richmond and started attending George Wythe. While there, he bounced around multiple homes.
He eventually had nowhere else to go and managed to scrape up enough cash to buy and live out of a car.
“I’m not able to take showers, I’m not able to eat,” he said.
Jones said teachers and mentors would help where they could, sometimes feeding and putting him up in hotels.
“It wasn’t every single day but every other day when they could,” Jones said.
In desperate need of a home, Jones received help from a local house of worship. He said Pastor Robert Winfrey from the New Life Deliverance Tabernacle came to his school one day.
“I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t completely dismantled because of his situation,” Winfrey said.
After a conversation with Jones, Winfrey opened the doors to his church cottage to the 19-year-old, giving him food, a clean bathroom and a safe place to rest his head until he graduated.
“All he needed was that one push, and thank God so far he got that push,” Winfrey said.
And with the extra help, Jones will soon walk across the graduation stage.
“Maybe I might not be fully conscious of what I’m saying right now, but I’m going to change the world and I’m going to give back to everybody that gave to me. Everybody,” he said.
Jones said he has received full rides to several colleges, including Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, Virginia Union University in Richmond and Ohio State.
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