NONPROFIT
BY JISHNU NAIR
BUILDING A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP
After Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s monthly build events, where bed frame parts are assembled, volunteers load them into vehicles for recipients.
With recipients’ permission, volunteers assemble beds for the children. Beds can be assembled separately or as bunk beds.
Royal Thomas Smith turned 6 and woke up in her new bed assembled by the volunteer group to celebrate. (Photos by Jishnu Nair/Community Impact Newspaper)
Sleep inHeavenly Peace Nonpro t works to end bedlessness in Montgomery County O n Feb. 27, Royal Thomas Smith turned six years old—and woke up in a new bed to celebrate. The day before, Royal watched March 2021. They received their rst call for beds in May.
“People decide, ‘My kids can sleep on the oor, but they’ll have a roof over their heads and food,’” Warren said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sleep deprivation can lead to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, injuries and poor mental health. Sleep in Heavenly Peace estimates 2%-3% of children in the U.S. do not have beds of their own. Fortner and Warren said cash donations are the most helpful. Sleep in Heavenly Peace uses money to buy lumber and bedding supplies to match the child’s preference. “[This bed] is something they can call their own, and that’s huge,” Warren said.
Families in need should ll out an online application on SHP’s website. Volunteers assemble the beds at the chapter warehouse before deliver- ing them. The Montgomery County chapter hosts one build event and one delivery event per month and as of February had delivered 220 beds since May 2021. “We have it assigned, there’s this many residents, and then the crews go out and are typically done by noon,” Fortner said. “We go in, build the frame, put the mattress on, take photos.” Warren said most of the recip- ients tend to be families in bad circumstances.
Sleep inHeavenly Peace 318 N. Main St., Conroe 713-702-8766 www.shpbeds.org Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Sat.-Sun. Co-Presidents Mike Fortner (left) and Will Warren launched the Montgomery County chapter in 2021.
as a group of volunteers came into her Conroe apartment and built her a new bed, complete with a spring mattress, pillows and a pink bedspread. The bed came courtesy of the Montgomery County chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a national nonpro t working to make sure “no kid sleeps on the oor in their town.” Co-Presidents Mike Fortner and Will Warren run the chapter out of Fortner’s insurance o ce in Conroe. Fortner and Warren launched the Montgomery County chapter in
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