Not too long ago, Frank Jones was Four-H – hungry and hopeless, homeless and helpless.
Then he got help, and with it, hope.
Nowadays, he’s well fed and has a roof over his head.
And he spends a lot of time giving back.
Jones, 56, volunteers a lot at Carriage House Community Kitchen, a Boulder day shelter for people like Jones used to be.
He’s on the board of directors. And he has slept on the floor when the shelter opened at night when it’s really cold out.
For his dedication, Jones is the November recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award, named in honor of the late super volunteer.
“He truly understands the depth of suffering, but carries a hopeful message, both in his words and in his actions,” according to his citation.
He understands because he has lived it.
Jones has been clean and sober five years. The years before that were hard on him. Drug and alcohol abuse were his downfall.
He knew he needed help, but didn’t know where to get it. So he tried on his own.
“I decided to be homeless for 108 days,” he said.
He gave up his job, his apartment -- everything -- and sought help from a shelter, which put him up for about three months. He made it through.
He even got a job as a dishwasher in exchange for meals.
He’d meditate, get physical therapy, work and go back to the shelter. The break from his past life was so beneficial that he decided to enroll in a nine-month retreat in Arizona. In exchange for room, board and counseling, he had to work.
He didn’t last the term. A bum ankle prevents him from working.
“I fell off a ladder back in ’89,” he said. “A tree branch caught my ankle on both sides.”
So he suffers chronic pain, so much that he is on a disability pension.
He returned to Boulder from Arizona, homeless by circumstance and not choice.
“I was embarrassed and scared,” he said. “I realized I couldn’t do it on my own. I didn’t think anybody cared, that anybody would help. But I raised my hand. And they were right there in front of me.”
Now, Jones is there out front. He stands on the Pearl Street Mall, handing out literature and words of encouragement to those in need. If they listen, he tells them how Carriage House Community Kitchen helped him in Boulder, his adopted home.
He grew up in California, was a carpenter by trade. He settled in Boulder in 1983.
“I wanted to learn to meditate. And there was a lot of that going on here at the time,” he said. “In construction, there was a boom. It was the land of opportunity.”
He’s unable to work now. But he still uses his carpenter skills. He helped supervise the building of two meditation rooms at Boulder Zen and Shambala centers.
“I do some volunteer carpentry,” he said. “I do have this pain issue. I’m unable to perform to people’s standards. If you’re hired by the hour, you have to produce. I still try to offer what I can.”
He should have qualified that remarked by saying he’s unable to perform to a few peoples’ standards. Judging by the number of people who showed up for his award ceremony last week at the DTC Marriott, Jones surpasses far more people’s standards.
Jones will turn 56 on Thanksgiving Day. But it’s more than a day of celebration because it’s his birthday. It’s a time when he reflects on his bounty in life, something he does even when it’s not Thanksgiving.
“I discovered how rewarding it was – doing something for someone else,” he said. “I have a lot to be thankful for.”
Contact Gary at The Villager newspaper — 303-773-8313 ext. 318 or reporter@villagerpublishing.com
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Frank Jones went from down and out to a hero who lifts up others
He returned to Boulder from Arizona, homeless by circumstance and not choice.