D.C. native, Mark Jones is strong willed and impassioned about people. He has been selling Street Sense for 11 years.
Jones, 57, is the second youngest of ten boys. He describes his family as “beautiful,” adores his nieces and nephews, and loves his five grandchildren, ages ranging from two months to 16 years.
His favorite memory since starting Street Sense is getting a job and a nice apartment.
“The help that I got from people on the street … they done good for me,” Jones said, “They helped me out; helped me pay my rent.”
Jones believes that everyone is good at something and that it’s good to be good.
“Life is what we do,” Jones said.
Jones currently lives in Wheaton and works at Safeway and selling Street Sense.
“Work ain’t hard,” Jones said, “you just need to stick with it; don’t quit.”
While an avid worker, Jones likes to relax with his bass guitar and loves sports. He played his guitar, his own original music during the interview, and lamented over how he didn’t have the right pick.
When Jones was a kid he played baseball, football, basketball, and golf. His favorite sport was baseball and he loved the Senators before they left D.C.
Even though Jones works hard to be a good person, he understands all too well that bad things happen to good people. His roommate unfortunately died of cancer.
“It was a younger fellow from Pakistan,” Jones said, “He chose me. He was only 25 years old, and he knew he was going to die.”
Jones lived with his roommate for a while before the roommate went back to Pakistan. Jones received a letter after his roommate went back that he had passed away from skin cancer.
Despite his hardships, Jones is incredibly grateful for all the help he has been given. He stated numerous times that people had been good to him and that he really appreciates the help he’s been given.
He knows the importance of giving back to the community; he said, “If I was to give young people a piece of advice, I’d give them some knowledge.”
