During the last weeks of 2018, Garland resident Delores Elder-Jones took to Facebook and issued an invitation to anyone who would like to sit down and visit with her. In the post she explained that there are many people in Garland that she loves, but she understands that all do not share the same political mindset. She stated that her goal was to see if Garland folks could agree on “where we go from here.” As a special incentive, she’s sharing her famous homemade bourbon balls with her visitors.
“I want to see if what I think is true, that you and I really do want the same things, but, because of our politics, we can’t get it together,” she wrote.
She knows that everyone wants Garland to be a better place to live but said that she has learned that there might still be some hate and evilness here. Elder-Jones is haTop of Formving these conversations because she hopes to find out what can be done to improve things. She wants to know why people with political differences have to be against people with other opinions.
“I don’t care who anybody votes for. That’s their business,” Elder-Jones said. “But why can’t we just accept that their opinions are different and still love them?”
She doesn’t understand why people tend to insult others and be hateful to them for having their own beliefs.
“When I was running for mayor, people tried to get me to talk bad about the other candidates,” she said. “I told them that I wasn’t going to do that. I love everybody. Even if someone downs me one day and needs help the next day, I’ll still help them. Everything I do is guided Divine Intervention.”
According to Elder-Jones, the world is crazy right now, but it can get better. She said that these visits are guided by God and she hopes to learn things that will help her improve her hometown.
“I have this Utopian idea that Garland can set the precedent for other cities. Because we’ve got such a big mixture of people,” she said.
She said that it seems like everyone wants the same things — decent, safe housing, plenty to eat, safe streets, good schools — but sadly, the world is crueler now than it ever has been. There’s still a lot of work to do.
Elder-Jones believes that racism is often something people are raised with and she wants to compare how people feel since they have gotten older to how they were raised. During her conversations, people have told her whether or not their parents were racist and how they felt that affected their views and shaped their values. She said that she has not yet had visits with anyone who is contributing to the negativity that is rampant in society and the hate that consumes some folks.
Elder-Jones was raised in a poor home, but she didn’t know they were poor until she was grown. She always felt loved and she had everything she needed. Until she was 8-years-old, her family lived in a two-room home and they had an outhouse. When they moved into public housing, there were three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and a bathroom inside.
“We thought we were living high. Back then public housing was the place to be. It later grew into the bad thing it is now,” Elder-Jones said. “Everybody in the neighborhood was your mama. If they saw you do anything wrong, they’d swipe your butt and then they’d tell your mama. It was totally different then.”
She further described her young years by saying that “everything was separate.”
“Back in the day when racism was alive and well, we went to the movie through the back way. We rode in the back of the bus and could only go to the zoo one day a week,” she said.
She added that she’s grateful for the education system being the way it was then because she got a great education. There were teachers who wouldn’t let students get away with anything and they drilled students until they learned everything they were supposed to.
She always made As in school and went to college when she was 37-years-old. She worked in social work at the beginning of her career and said that she was constantly surprised by the things she saw.
“I was shocked,” Elder-Jones said. “I didn’t know there were people who didn’t have dads, people who didn’t have food, people who didn’t finish high school, that didn’t have marketable skills. I never knew that side of life.”
Being in social work is one of the reasons she knows that more programs are needed for young people. She added that it’s dangerous to let your kids outside alone now and the danger in the world has changed kids.
“Back in the day we didn’t even close our doors. We slept on the porch in the summertime because we didn’t have air-conditioning. There’s so much danger now and there is a lot of hatred in the younger generation and we have to fix that in the homes,” she said. “People are not born with hatred. If you put together several babies of different ethnicities, those babies are going to come together, and if they grow up together, they will never know that there is a difference.”
She added that people have to learn to appreciate diversity.
“My religion isn’t yours but this is the God your parents taught you to understand. I accept it,” Elder-Jones said. “It’s all about respect. You don’t’ have to like the same things I like, just respect my right to like it.”
A number of cultures are represented in her neighborhood and she loves them all. The kids call her Grandmama Dee-Dee just as her own grandchildren do. Their cultures are different but she understands them and gets along with them because she appreciates diversity.
Elder-Jones has led a busy and spirit-filled life. She has two children and raised them alone between marriages. Her career has afforded her the chance to help many as she has served in various volunteer roles. She had the honor of being named one of President George H. W. Bush’s Thousand Points of Light. She has also been recognized by numerous elected officials.
To name just a few of her accomplishments, Elder-Jones has done social work and is a trained counselor. She served as the director of Planning and Development for the Memphis Housing Authority where she wrote a 10-year plan for people to get out of public housing. She earned a master’s degree in City & Regional Planning and her primary focus has been on housing for disadvantaged people. She also worked at Richland College as a teaching administrator.
She can be seen around Garland volunteering in one capacity or another and using her skill as a gifted photographer. She also makes some of the most delicious desserts in town.