Palmetto family receives unique Thanksgiving gift

Tuesday, Nov. 22 — two days before Thanksgiving — was a time for Tracy and Johnnie Jones to be especially thankful. That’s the day they received the keys to their new home in the Wilkerson Mill Park community in Palmetto.
The 3,250 sq. ft. home for Jones, a disabled War on Terror veteran, and his wife is the first constructed for a severely disabled veteran of the war as part of The Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes’ National Homes for Wheelchair-Restricted and Disabled Heroes Program. It is one of five being built by the coalition this year.
Mayfield Homes, the developer and builder in Wilkerson Mill Park, designed and built a new home to accommodate Jones’ wheelchair. B.J. Jackson, a double amputee who is a national spokesperson for the coalition, said, “Mayfield Homes worked hard to design and build a house that will make Tracy and Johnnie’s lives easier.”
Under the coalition program, which also has support from the Veterans Administration, the Joneses have to pay a mortgage of only $20,000 on the home, which includes such features as wider hallways, lower thresholds, lower counters and cabinets, raised electrical outlets, and lowered light switches. Jones is especially pleased with the extra large roll-in shower in the master bath, which allows plenty of room for him to use while sitting in his wheelchair.
The home has a second floor, and the stairs were built with special reinforcement for a wheelchair lift, which will be installed by the Veterans Administration. However, Jones, who has been making steady progress in combatting the effects of his paralysis, is determined to walk up those stairs someday.
“I’m going up those stairs,” he declared to the crowd attending the ceremony. “It’s just a matter of time. I’ve got to get up there.”
Tracy Jones was on duty as a military truck driver in Iraq when another vehicle ran a stop sign and plowed into his vehicle. He woke up at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., four days later, saying that at that time, “All I could move was my eyes. I tried to talk, but no sound came out.”
Although he still depends on a wheelchair as his primary method of moving about, his situation does seem to be getting better. He is able to walk several hundred feet with a walker and some support.
The new home is a vast improvement over the small apartment where he and his wife have been living. Hallways and the shower were particular challenges.
Among those speaking at the presentation ceremony was Sean Doughtie, president of Mayfield Homes, who said the company is “honored that the Joneses chose our neighborhood as their place to live.”
Wilkerson Mill Park is located on Wilkerson Mill Road in Palmetto in South Fulton County across the street from Wilkerson Mill Farris Park, a part of the Fulton County park system. It features 55 homes on one to four-acre lots priced from $200,000 to $300,000. The community features a variety of floor plans and elevations that can be individually customized.
Based in McLean, Va., The Coalition to Salute America's Heroes is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization created to provide an easy and meaningful way for individuals, corporations and others to help our severely wounded and disabled veterans and their families rebuild their lives.