Throughout too much of the 1980s, the plight of Johnny Jones and his family was a chilling snapshot of the poorest of East Ridge's poor.
"My brother and sister and I and our mom lived in a car for weeks at a time," recalled Jones earlier this week. "We didn't have any money for rent."
And on those occasions they could scrap together enough cash to lease a house or apartment rather than the four of them wedging into what Jones referred to as "an old, ugly Gran Torino," it never lasted for long.
"We had to move every six or eight months because we couldn't afford to pay the rent," he explained. "We lived all over East Ridge. In a community that was middle class to upper class, we were the minority. We were way below the poverty line."
On Wednesday night at the same East Ridge High School from which his son, Johnny Jr., graduated in 2007, Jones returned for a surprise presentation where he was doing the presenting. And it was an exceedingly, um, "Gran" gift - a check for $100,000 to help build and stock the weight room in the new fieldhouse currently under construction.
"The East Ridge of today is a lot different than the one I grew up in," Jones said as he presented the symbolic, oversized check to Pioneers coach Tim James. "I look at East Ridge today, and I see a lot more folks struggling like I did as a kid. I'm honored and humbled to play some small role in helping this (athletic) program and this school."
It is indeed a far different East Ridge these days, much as it's a far different Brainerd and a far different Rossville than those true middle class neighborhoods of 40 years ago. To drive down Ringgold Road today is to see three times as many instant cash shops, pawn shops and thrift stores as traffic lights. Had Jones been growing up in any of those areas today, his family's financial struggles would have placed them among the majority rather than the minority.
"This is a tough place to be now," said all-world wrestling coach Danny Gilbert, who now runs East Ridge High's Alumni Association. "There are a lot of people around here who need a lot of help."
This is not the first time the ultra-successful business owner has reached out to those in need.
"Johnny's helped us for years," said Andy Smith, the director of the Chattanooga YMCA's Youth and Community Action Program. "And not just financially. He's invested a lot of time in our kids, doing whatever he can to help them chase their dreams."
Added Andy's father, Joe, who began YCAP in the late 1990s: "As a young man, Johnny had a lot of struggles, made some bad choices. But he survived it. And when he got past it, he wanted to help as many young people as he could. He understands the value of never forgetting where you came from and giving back. I believe, and he does, too, that you don't keep what you have until you give it away. The more you give away, the more you're blessed.
"He has a heart for kids, and not just while they're at YCAP. He'll take a risk on a kid in his businesses when nobody else will. Some work out. Some don't. But he's always willing to give them a chance."
To that point, Jones said of the young folks he's hired: "I've found through the years that people will generally give you what you expect of them. If they think you expect them to fail, they probably will. If they think that you believe them, that you believe they'll succeed, they'll usually do that, too."
There weren't a lot of opportunities for Jones to succeed during his turbulent childhood in East Ridge.
"I never did drugs or drank alcohol, nothing like that," Jones said. "But I got in a lot of fights. Some of us were almost like animals. That's the only way we knew to solve anything. But I was lucky, too. My MeMaw (grandmother) and my mom (Inez Hall) were always in my corner, always encouraging me, always telling me they loved me. Without them, there's no telling where I'd be today. I know I wouldn't be what I've become."
In the case of the East Ridge gift, James said it couldn't have come at a better time for the school's athletes.
"We probably currently have the worst weight room in Hamilton County," James said. "And it's been compounded by the fact our stadium was condemned six years ago. This gift is not only a huge help to our school, it also shows our players that people can come out of our community and become big successes in the world."
Added Gilbert of the weight room that will be replaced: "It's the armpit of Hamilton County. It's so small, you have to go outside to change your mind."
Jones wants to do more. He wants to work with Gilbert and the rest of the school to help not only athletics but academics.
"I feel like I'm a part of a tribe that wants to help give them a better life," he said. "All kids need all the help they can get. Mostly, I want them to know there's somebody in this community that believes in them. It often just takes one person believing in you just a little bit."
Not long after the gift was announced, Pioneers freshman offensive lineman Cayden McCrary was asked what Jones' gift meant to him.
After pointing out how much all the school's athletic teams would benefit from a new weight room and state-of-the-art equipment, he said something that will hopefully help improve the futures of all East Ridge students, be they athletes or not.
Asked what lessons can be learned from Jones' life story, McCrary said: "It means you don't have to start wealthy to get wealthy. It means you can start low and get to the top."
And once there, if you have the right heart, you can help a world full of others get there as well.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @TFPWeeds.