February 22, 2009
Last Saturday I covered a Habitat for Humanity story where OU students had raised money for a very deserving family. Joseph Johnson is a single parent and his son, JoJo, is 6 , he was born with down syndrome and was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of four.
So Saturday morning after piling on layers of clothes, a hat, gloves and scarf, I drove to the job site to find the frame of the house minutes away from completion and the roof ready to be put together. I was able to talk to the Habitat for Humanity head and one of the members of their board.
Once I asked them about the Johnsons it was a non stop flow of positive, encouraging words. They truly loved this family, this cause and especially the work ethic that Joseph had displayed. They were full of kind words about him and how they were sure he would accomplish great things in life. It was so refreshing to hear people talk positively about one another. After listening to them I was really excited to talk to Joseph.
Once I pulled him aside and he began to talk I realized that he wasn't the most outwardly expressive person (what guy is?), but you can tell by looking at his face while he talked about his situation that he really cared. He truly wanted nothing more than to provide a home for his son, and give him as normal a life as possible. It was so great to meet a father so passionate about something, he was really driven.
Two Greek groups from OU were there helping put the roof up. There was also a former OU architecture professor at the site who was volunteering just for fun and because he believed in the cause.
The construction manager for the project was a student at OU who had recently been hired by Habitat. He has helped the project along since the design plans and this was his first project to see all the way through. Whenever he was asked about the Johnsons he started gushing about how great JoJo was and how you could tell that Joseph wanted to be involved with his house.
It was just a really neat story to see come together. OU students, faculty and people in the OU community were out en masse to help and support one cause. Even though it was ridiculously cold, the conversations and experience were worth it.
— Ashley Body, Physical Campus Beat Reporter
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