Plano man who devoted his life to aiding others loses family home to fire
PLANO - A Plano man who has dedicated much of his life to helping people in need, is now in need of help himself.
Shawn Jones dedicated his life to helping the homeless population across DFW, and now his mother finds herself without a home after it was recently destroyed by a fire.
"Overwhelmed. I'm just overwhelmed," Jones said.
Jones is usually not the one asking for help but is known in the Plano community to give help. Jones says he has given decades and hours of his life to feeding and caring for the homeless. He says he volunteers through the charity, Feed the City, where he and other volunteers make thousands of sandwiches for the homeless community. He has even raised money during the holidays to buy and distribute tents, supplies, and sleeping bags for the homeless to get through the winter months.
"There's people that are doing the right thing that still end up in the wrong place," Jones adds.
He says he never thought that someone he loves would be homeless.
"I knew it very easily be me or it could very easily be somebody I knew. It's one thing to say that tongue and cheek, but it's another for it to come to fruition," says Jones.
Jones says his mom paid off the home, but got laid off from her job years ago, has been living off social security, and could not afford insurance. Now, Jones says he's having to come up with thousands of dollars on his own for repairs.
"My home that I live in is also my childhood home, which is just down the street, and this could just as easily be me," says neighbor Chris Lukauskas.
Lukauskas says he and a lot of other neighbors in Plano are already giving food, clothes, time, and labor to help keep the Jones' house in their family.
"Shawn has literally given decades of his life to community service and charity and it's time for everyone to be together and get back," Lukauskas adds.
"I'm used to kind of being on the other side and rallying people for strangers. I'm the guy that shows up to help, not ask for help," Jones adds.
The Plano Fire Department says they do believe the fire was an electric fire but are still investigating.
The Jones family set up a GoFundMe page.