Many of our homeowners have had inspiring stories of buying their homes or inheriting their homes and it being a huge part of their family and lives. Not so much for Mr. Jodi Davis—Jodi stumbled into homeownership after his mom owned the home. Initially it was more of a heavy weight, especially after a life of travel and plenty of adventure. But, after thirty some-odd years of being at this house, it is officially home. Home means a space where privacy, security and safety are maintained.
“It’s like an old friend you just love being around,” explains Jodi. “I plan on being in my home until the end of time. It’s important to me because it maintains my independence and privacy and security. It’s nice to be able to get up when you want to, or just stay in bed if you want.”
Jodi grew up in Indianapolis, he fondly remembers it being called “Naptown” when he was a kid, but when he was eighteen, he volunteered for the service. He served in the Army Infantry and was proud to serve his country.
“I wanted to see the world, see other people and other things that I had read about.”
A self-admitted “do-er” Jodi has done. He has read books and followed adventures, talked to people from every walk of life. He’s easy to talk to.
“I like meeting people, but recently, I’ve been trying to stay out of people’s way,” said Jodi after commenting on the state of things following a tense political season and while in the midst of a pandemic.
In addition to people, Jodi still enjoys reading, watching television - especially with the special effects these days. He also enjoys cooking.
“When I get a little money, particularly around the holidays, I’ll pick up new ingredients and try new and exotic recipes.”
One thing Jodi does not enjoy - getting old. It limits him in ways he has never been limited to before. Once more than capable of wrestling raccoons out of his attic (took him two years, but still), and very able to scrape and paint his home a vibrant yellow after his family questioned his sanity for choosing a bright green color for his house—Jodi was, as he puts it, “caught down.”
He learned about NeighborLink Indianapolis through the city. He looked us up and read all through our website. We apparently passed the initial test so he brought us up to a social worker who encouraged him to just meet with us. He assumed he’d hear from us a year later. Shortly after his call we already had a volunteer group out to scrape and paint one side of his home while our handyman took on his front steps.
“I’m so happy my home is getting worked on. I appreciate it so much. No one made you come out and do this,” said a very genuine Jodi. “You don’t have to be out here. It restores my faith in people. My faith is in people because of good humans just like you all. Sometimes humans do the most wonderful things, it makes you want to cry. It’s what we’re supposed to do, we’re supposed to do things for each other.”
We couldn’t agree more.
More work has to be done for Jodi’s house. We’ve done what we can to this point, but those raccoons did a number to his roof, which has since challenged his gutters, which of course then leads to issues within the house as water penetrates the home. If you would like to help fund projects like this, please consider donating.