Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 27, 1994 TAG: 9402250054
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Kathleen Wilson
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The trip from his home off of Williamson Road to the Stop-In Food Store he manages in Daleville is only 15 miles.
But Jones has a stop to make in the opposite direction before he can head to work.
A single father, Jones has to drop off Nathan, 5, and Junior, 2, at Greenvale Nursery School in Northwest Roanoke.
When his marriage ended 14 months ago, Jones had to face the harsh reality of holding down a job and raising two sons on his own.
"My family splitting up is just not something I was prepared for," he said. His parents have been married for 50 years; an older sister, for 30. Another sister raised her son alone, but she's proud he's now enrolled in Radford University.
His position with Stop-In requires a lot of time. The stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Some of the stores, he points out, don't even have locks on the doors because they just never close.
Greenvale has been his lifesaver.
"I needed reliability, and they provide it," he pointed out. "Snow, sleet, ice: Our 50 Stop-In stores were open."
Snow, sleet, ice: Greenvale's doors were open, too.
Greenvale Nursery School is one of only two child-care centers in the Roanoke Valley that offer sliding fee scales.
Jones pays $63 a week for both children. That's about one-quarter of his take-home pay.
"If I were paying the full rate, it'd be at least half of what I make."
His family members help as much as they can - his parents are now in their 70s. But relatives may be able to help out one day, but not the next.
He's torn, he said, between needing to work and needing to be with his boys.
It's helped a lot that Stop-In has been supportive of his situation, letting him vary his schedule to fit his sons' needs.
"It's very obvious that his top priority is his children," said Sandra Carroll, executive director of Greenvale Nursery School. "He's concerned and aware of their needs and welfare. He's a super dad."
If there's something going on with the divorce proceedings, Carroll says he always takes the time to fill in the staff so they'll understand what Nathan and Junior might be going through on that day.
It's been an enormously difficult time for Jones.
"But my kids have got to come first," he said.
"I would have never taken on this responsibility if I weren't prepared to make sacrifices."
by CNB