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By EMS1 Staff
ST. LOUIS — A man shared his journey to becoming a dispatcher after being homeless for two years.
When Rodney Edwards lost his job and home in 2007, he was forced to move into a vacant home his relative owned, according to KMOV.
“No back door, no plumbing, no walls, critters running around,” Edwards said.
Edwards used the vacant house to get back on his feet and prepare for a new career.
“I applied for a Pell Grant and enrolled at St. Louis Community College Forest Park,” Edwards said. “I made the Dean’s List. All these kids had MacBook Pros and iPads and I went to the library old school.”
Edwards said he used a single light in the vacant house to study, and enrolled in a gym class so he would have a place to shower.
Edwards entered an EMT program through the school and began to work for the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District. He earned his Emergency Medical Dispatch certificate in 2012, and got a job with the St. Louis Fire Department.
“It’s an honor to wear this uniform,” Edwards said. “They saw I had drive and I had hustle, and I believed in the culture and the core values of the fire department.”
Edwards was recently promoted to Fire Equipment Dispatcher. He was also honored at the St. Louis Blues Game as a community maker.
“I never let my circumstances dictate my outcome,” Edwards said. “If I can say anything about this amazing journey, it’s a reminder to not put a period where a comma should go.”