A Place to Land: Edmund’s Story

Edmund has lived many lives.

He’s been an English teacher in Japan, a restitution researcher in Germany, a painter, a farmer, a mechanic, and a writer. He’s crossed continents and cultures, shared dinner with a Chinese general, and once narrowly escaped a green Rolls-Royce in Hong Kong. But after years of movement, loss, and reinvention, Edmund found himself in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania - starting over in a one-bedroom apartment, wondering what home could feel like again.

It was another DIG delivery at his apartment complex that first caught his eye.

“I saw the truck outside and started talking to the driver,” he recalls. That moment, combined with a referral from his therapist, led him to DIG Furniture Bank. “I didn’t really want a lot of stuff,” he admits with a smile. “But they insisted I take a look.”

At DIG, Edmund found more than furniture: he found kindness without strings, a gesture of care that didn’t ask for anything in return. He chose only what he needed: a rug for the floor where he sleeps, a “marshmallow-soft” chair that still brings him comfort, risers for his bed to ease his back pain.

Edmund is soft-spoken about what he’s been through: physical pain, estrangement from family, a sense of loss that stretches beyond material things. “I like cozy,” he says, though he’s not always sure he deserves it. But the truth is, that rug, that chair, that visit to DIG represented more than just practical items. They were quiet reminders that even after all he’s lived through, he is still worth comfort, care, and a place that feels like home.

Today, Edmund keeps writing, paints when he can, and shares stories when people ask. He plays cards at his apartment complex and is learning what a quieter kind of connection looks like.

DIG didn’t change everything in Edmund’s life. But we helped make his space a little softer, a little more his own. And sometimes, that’s all it takes - a rug, a chair, and a kind conversation - to remind someone that home is still possible.