Blessing Beds
As most visions go this one started with a concept and grew into a dream. As most solutions go this one started with a problem and found a way to ease the heartbreak. The problem? Kids sleeping on the floor because they cannot afford their own bed. The dream? Deliver 500 handmade bunk beds a year to families on the Palouse, free of charge. The solution? Give kids a small private piece of happiness.
Blessing Beds was the vision of my pastor Thad Debuhr. He first unveiled this passion of his to our church early in January 2020. I was immediately drawn into his mission and wanted to do what I could to help. After service one Sunday I corralled him in the foye and introduced myself. I told him that I worked for Good Deeds Mortgage and that we as a team wanted to help support the mission.
That mission was born in one of the most tumultuous years the world has ever known. As it started and gained momentum it was quickly dampened by Covid-19 and the restrictions that it placed. Solely through the support of the community through volunteer hours, financial donations, and charitable gifts, time and time again the Blessing Bed dream was kept alive. As obstacle after obstacle relentlessly presented itself the sovereign grace of God answered the call infinitely more. That brings us to the end of 2020, and where the need of blessing Beds, never having been amplified more, was answered once again through grace and in the form of Good Deeds Mortgage.
As 2020 came to a closing, Blessing Beds found themselves in a peculiar situation. They had plenty of beds built and ready to give away, but were experiencing a major mattress shortage. This challenge was once again answered through an incredible deal of more than 150 mattresses. The catch? A price tag of $15,000. Having had Blessing Beds on our heart we were able to donate to them at the end of the year from the amount of donations that we had left over to give. The amount? $15,000. Challenge presented, and by the grace of God, answer provided.
Hear Thad tell the story in the video below:
From Blessing Beds:
In January of 2020, one man inquired within the local Facebook community if there were any children in the area in need of a bed. He published his inquiry expecting to be able to build and provide a bed for perhaps a child or two that might need them. What he found amongst the replies to his Facebook post was that the amount of children sleeping on the floor in his own community was much greater than he had imagined. The realization that the need for beds was larger than anticipated coupled with the desire to meet as many of those needs as possible resulted in the official launch of Blessing Beds in February 2020. With this, the original goal of supplying a few beds throughout the local community was transformed into a goal of building and supplying 500 beds for children who otherwise would not have access to one. Since the launch of Blessing Beds, over 100 children have been taken off the floor and are now sleeping in beds of their own! As the program continues, there are currently over 200 hundred approved applicants and new applications are continually submitted.
Blessing Beds is a non-profit organization that operates solely through the labor of volunteers and funds donated. The organization creates and builds bed frames at a workshop located in a residential basement in Pullman, WA. Those beds are, then, stored on site in a storage container that was graciously donated for such purposes until they are set for delivery.
Blessing Beds services families within the Pullman, Moscow, Lewsiton, and Clarkston areas. Families who are in need of beds for their children are welcomed and encouraged to apply via an online application which can be found at blessingbeds.com. Once submitted, those applications are reviewed. After their application is approved, those families are placed on a waiting list for the next available delivery date. Upon delivery, children are furnished with bed frames, mattresses, and bedding at no cost. Visit their website here: https://www.blessingbeds.com/
