Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones on her new charity Hurdles for Hope to help kids with parents who are incarcerated

US Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones has faced a lot of difficulty this year, from being the subject of a scathing New York Times article to her disappointing fourth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdle during the 2012 Olympics. Jones however is no stranger to adversity. Growing up, her family was homeless and her father was in and out of jail.

Today on “Starting Point,” Jones discusses how her childhood experiences encouraged her to start a foundation that helps those struggling with poverty. "Hurdles for Hope" is the signature program under The Lolo Jones Foundation that seeks to aid families with incarcerated loved ones.

The Olympian also shares her thoughts on the negative media attention and how it affected her in London. Jones says she became aware of the New York Times article entitled “For Lolo Jones, Everything Is Image” two days before she was set to compete due to the amount of attention the article was receiving via on social media. “I didn’t read the whole article,” Jones says. “People on twitter were obviously telling me there was this kind of crazy piece about me. I read it afterwards and I… I don’t know. It’s my job to focus negative and positive energy and just use it as momentum down the track and I guess its his job to just write articles that would stir the pot.”

For more information on Hurdles for Hope, visit HurdlesforHope.org.