“I found a home.”

Those may be the four greatest words we ever hear from a client. They represent a special moment, when a person gets to leave the label of “homeless” behind. Now is their chance to live independently, to grow and move past one of the most difficult times of their life.

Ed is one person who can say, ‘I found a home,’ because last week he moved into his own apartment. It was an exciting development, after a nearly two-month stay at the Mission. Ed remembers the minute he found out.

“I ran right up to Bobbie and said ‘I did it! I got my own place!’” Ed says with a big smile.

Bobbie is one of our social workers. When Ed arrived at the Mission, she sat down with him, like she has done with hundreds of other clients. Bobbie asked Ed what his goals were, and she asked him for his story.

Ed grew up in a tough part of York, Pennsylvania. He lived there most of his life, working at a variety of manual jobs, including a six year stint as a firefighter. Ed lived, worked, and played hard, which often got him into trouble.

“I wasn’t too good of a boy,” says Ed. “I loved to get in trouble. I'd fly off the handle and wanted to fight all the time.”

This rough-and-tumble lifestyle was Ed’s “normal” for many, many years. It took a toll on him over time, however: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Ed was tired. He was hurting. His health was failing him (he had recently suffered two heart attacks and a stroke).

At sixty years old, Ed sat down and thought long and hard about his life. He realized that he was going in the wrong direction and that he had been doing so for what seemed like forever. His life, he felt, was on the brink. So that day, Ed decided he was going to change the direction of his life.

Ed’s partner had family in North Dakota and Ed thought that a visit would give him a perfect chance to get away from negative influences and make a change.

“With being around a bad crowd, and the temptation…I’d never do it,” says Ed. "Out here, I don’t know anybody.”

Ed and his partner made the trip to North Dakota, and they moved in with some friends. Ed was immediately captivated by his new environment. People were kind, relaxed, and practical. The spaces around him were open and peaceful. This was drastically different from the rough Pennsylvania neighborhood he grew up in.

“When I got here, I was really shocked,” says Ed. “I was amazed, and I thought, ‘Maybe this will work out. Maybe this is the place to change my life.’”

Things weren’t going to start off great, however. The “living with friends” situation became volatile. When the landlord found out about these living arrangements, Ed and his partner were kicked out on short notice.

Homelessness was the last thing on Ed’s agenda. Now here it was, staring him in the face. There was no time to go through the process of getting an apartment. Surviving outside in the bitter cold was impossible.

Ed thought about one day back in Pennsylvania, when he had looked out a window and saw a large group of people sleeping in the street. It had made him deeply sad at the time. Now that feeling returned, along with a new level of empathy for those people that Ed hadn’t known possible.

It was fortunate that Ed and his partner found Northlands Rescue Mission a short distance away. They arrived not knowing what to expect. After about a week, however, Ed realized that he felt encouraged about the direction of his life.

Ed was given the chance to share his goals with the Mission’s advocacy team. First, he wanted to get his own place. He also wanted a job and to meet some new friends – people who would motivate him in positive ways. Fayme and Bobbie, two members of our advocacy team, helped Ed work through applications for housing and jobs.

“They were really patient with me,” says Ed. “They would sit and help me fill any application out. We just kept at it.”

Ed, who has never known how to read or write well, also got connected with a program that would help him develop those skills. He has a meeting for that program scheduled next week.

Ed’s hard work, paired with the support he received at the Mission, paid off when he got the call that he was approved for housing. We gave Ed an air mattress to get him started at his new apartment, and he plans to stop back shortly for a food box and a couple pieces of donated furniture.

Now, Ed is focused on settling into his apartment and starting a new job. He’s feeling hopeful and confident.

“I’m glad I followed through with this,” says Ed. “A friend of mine just told me, ‘Eddie, you’ve come a long way since you’ve been out here. I’ve never seen you like this, and I’m so proud of you.’”

On his way out after sharing his story with us, Ed ran into Bobbie. He took the chance to say thank you one more time.

“Man, you all did a lot for me,” Ed told her. “I had a lot of nervousness. But you really helped me out a whole bunch. Thank you so much.”‍‍