What started as an apartment with nothing but an air mattress is now filled with furniture, clothes and essentials after a community stepped up to help a 19-year-old college student in need.
Caleb Dickerson moved into his apartment two months ago to be closer to school as he began his first semester at Pulaski Technical College. The welding major said he hopes to earn his welding license and build a stable career.
“My major is welding, I’m planning on getting my welding license and go find a job in welding, make a pretty good living for myself,” Dickerson said.
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But between rent, food and tuition, Dickerson said he couldn’t afford furniture for his new place. His living room sat empty, and he slept on an air mattress.
That’s when Mark Cannon, a longtime connection, turned to social media for help. In a Facebook Live video filmed inside Dickerson’s apartment, Cannon asked the community for assistance, not necessarily money, but anything that could help furnish the space.
“I’m right now in his apartment. I’m asking you all for your help, assistance. It doesn’t necessarily have to be money,” Cannon said in the video, later adding as he showed the room, “He doesn’t have nothing to sit on. This is all he has, an air mattress.”
Cannon said he believed Arkansans would rally around Dickerson.
“I wanted to make sure that he was comfortable, and so that his apartment would feel like a home. That was so important to me,” Cannon said.
Within days, donations began pouring in. What was once an empty living room now includes couches, a lamp, and a television. Dickerson said he also received a shower curtain, trash can, soap dispenser and other household necessities.