Metro United Way Build-a-Bed Project

Each day children across our community go to sleep without their own bed. Having a bed to sleep in is no right, it’s a luxury that many in our community go without.

A bed provides children a quiet place for restful sleep, doing homework or reading, or just enjoy time alone. While no bed and a bad nights sleep can lead to poor academic success, a shortened attention span, aggressive behavior and classroom disruptions.

Recently, the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana made a $2,500 grant to Metro United Way as they partnered with Greater Clark County Schools and Communities In Schools Clark County to help youth get a good night’s sleep and, in turn, positively impact their overall health and educational performance.

Metro United Way coordinated volunteers from Amazon Fulfillment Center in Jeffersonville, Steel Dynamics, and Prosser Career Education Center, along with resources from multiple community partners, including Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, to build bed frames for low-income children in Greater Clark County schools while many other sponsors provided mattresses and bedding.

Families filled out applications to receive the beds and thirty volunteers came together on one day to build the frames. Bowles Mattress Company donated 54 mattresses. Young volunteers (ages 25 – 35) made 54 fleece blankets and each child received two sets of sheets and two pillows, a blanket, and a laundry basket.

The Community Foundation of Southern Indiana is proud to partner on initiatives like the Build-a-Bed Project. This collaborative project did more than just build beds, it helped the lives of 54 children who previously had no bed to sleep in gain some independence and get a good night’s rest – helping them succeed in school and life.