VISTA, Calif. — No child should have to sleep on the floor. In this Zevely Zone, I went to Vista, where volunteers were building bunks beds for families in need.
If you've ever gone camping and slept on the ground, you know what a tough night that can be. There are some children in San Diego County who don't have a bed to sleep in every night. "It seems a little crazy that we are taking this on," said Steve and Marie Hovein.
The husband and wife heard about a non-profit called Sleep in Heavenly Peace and thought, "Wow, we could volunteer with that, yeah we thought this is something we could do. We looked into it and learned that there was not a chapter in all of San Diego we could help out with, so we have our own chapter now," said Steve and Marie.
They believe a bed is a basic need for the proper physical, emotional, and mental support that a child needs. Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a national organization answering the call to a national problem.
All children deserve a safe, comfortable place to lay their heads.
The organization estimates three percent of children don't own beds and by that math that means 620 kids in Vista alone. "If they are sleeping on a couch, if they are sleeping on cushions, we want to give them a safe and secure place to sleep," said Marie.
Volunteers buy the materials from Lowe's at a discounted price and roll up their sleeves. "This is bed building for dummies. We have station by station by station and if they can do this and we can put them to work," said Marie.
I asked a young girl helping out if she was too young to build a bed. "No one is too young!" she shouted over the sound of construction. "We teach these kids the spirit of community, the spirit of community involvement and the spirit of giving back and when they are young, the parents volunteering stays with them for the rest of their life," said Steve.
The bed building party took place at North Coast Church. "I mean who doesn't love a bunk bed?" asked Mary Bishop. She said when a child receives their first bed, the reaction is priceless. "They are giddy, they are excited, they are jumping on the bed," said Mary.
Many kids insist on putting their own beds together. "They got to use the drill and screw in the screws and so that is pretty cool for them to be a part of the build," said Mary.
Every donation comes with bedding and pillows and a finishing touch. "Every bed gets the SHP brand on the headboard and on the footboard," said Steve. "A couple of weeks ago we got a phone call from a dad who we delivered a bed to, and the student had slept until 9 o'clock on Saturday morning and he had never done that before, but it was the first Saturday and he had his own bed and he slept in," said Marie.
If any child needs a bed, they get one. No questions asked. "The only thing they have to do is tell us they don't have a bed, a safe place to sleep," said Marie. The husband and wife say if they get enough volunteers, they may just be able to put this whole problem to bed. "We would like to never have an application. That would be the goal to work ourselves completely out of a job," said Steve.
For each event they need community volunteers and funding. For details on how to donate or participate with Sleep in Heavenly Peace - San Diego North click here.