Homeless man lands job after meeting Bill Clinton - Benjamin Edwards of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Brief Article

Jet, Jan 11, 1993

A homeless, unemployed man's brief encounter in Philadelphia with then presidential hopeful Bill Clinton has had an almost magical outcome: It helped land him a job.

Benjamin Edwards, 52, had been homeless and jobless for more than a decade, scrounging in trash dumpsters to find soda and beer cans to exchange for cash - then he met presidential candidate Bill Clinton, who was campaigning in West Philadelphia.

In that October meeting, Edwards told Clinton about his plight and how he desperately needed a job. Clinton's recollection of the encounter with Edwards during the President-elect's recent two-day economic conference in Little Rock, Ark., helped Edwards land his first full-time job in 12 years with the Seiler Food Corporation, which placed him at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia. Other job offer rolled in soon afterwards. In fact, Edwards has decided to accept another of the offers, which has a better salary and benefits. He will be employed as an office building janitor for Shellville Inc., where he could make between $216 and $240 a week.